Bound by Sword
by RenamonRoxx
Summary: In an instant, 10,000 humans and 10,000 digimon are snatched away without a trace to a familiar steel castle. The Sword Art Online game is back, but this time its not avatars, its their real bodies.
1. Chapter 1: A King, A Castle, A Game

I recognized the world from the disc case. This was SAO. The FAMOUS SAO. I was here! Normally I'd be exhilarated to be submerged into a game like this, where the creatures are so real you can touch them, a blade can get you anything you wanted or needed. Life was simple here. But I WASN'T exhilarated. Or excited. Or even happy about this. As I examined my surroundings, a quote came to mind.

"Well. We're not in Kansas anymore."

Let me explain. My name is Justin Arai. And if you were judging by my last name, you may have thought I'm at least part Japanese. But, I'm not. When my real dad left, my mom wanted to make sure we were well off. So my mother, that I love very much, married a high and mighty rich Japanese guy.

He made his fortune helping develop and sell the amazing SAO, Sword Art Online game. As much as I couldn't stand him, especially because he didn't even try to form any kind of bond with me, he managed to score me a copy and a nerve gear to play. I was so excited I didn't even bother with the manual. I just slipped the helmet on my head, waiting for the clock to roll around to the official release.

My mother rudely yanked it off and told me we had guests from out of town coming in, and despite my protests, told me she didn't give a crap that it was release day and wanted me to talk to company. Several hours crawled by, and finally as night rolled around I ran up to my room, but before I could put the gear on, mom ran in behind me and grabbed the helmet. She ran back downstairs before I could say a word. Needless to say, I was pissed, cursing at her until I saw the newscast on the TV.

Ten thousand people locked into the game. 213 dead from forcible removal of the Nerve gear. And I was almost one of them.

I watched the news on the event for two years. Two thousand dead in two months. Two thousand more died over time. A final fourteen died in their sleep before the game finally released them from its grip. I'd heard it rumored someone had beat it.

My dad had tactfully separated all ties with Aincrad and its affiliates, claiming he knew nothing of what Kayaba had done. He managed to avoid the rabid mob of lawyers just barely, with his money intact.

But, you see, I still had my nerve gear. And I heard that after the whole junk with Alfheim Online being used as a front for brain and memory manipulation research, the VRMMORGP genre was fired up again with the Seed and the very kid who had beaten it and Sword Art had set up another SAO.

And so, despite my mother's protests, I had booted it up. I plugged in the game, pulled on my nerve gear (with added safeties) and took the full dive for the first time.

Only to be force kicked out for not having the the latest software.

I was mad, and since my 'Dad' was still dodging lawyers he refused to so much as pay for a copy of the new SAO for me, or any VR game for that matter. And so I fumed. I swore I would experience the world of Aincrad one way or another. And I got my wish.

"This castle has become most... disturbing." Stated Yggdrasil, King of the Digital World.

He was referring to the mysterious steel castle of enormous proportions that had all of a sudden appeared in the skies near Server Tree. It had both eaten up and simultaneously given massive chunks of processing speed to the server, invisibly weaving through the complicated strata of the digital world, effectively integrating itself. King Yggdrasil couldn't simply remove it, should it became problematic; it might cause irreparable damage to the entire server tree and thus the entire digital world. Most disturbing indeed.

"My King, shall we go examine it?" Questioned Craniamon, one of the King's royal knights.

The human-embodied ruler seemed to ponder for a moment. "Yes, one knight should keep watch over this castle at all times. Craniamon, would you take the first watch? Tell me what you see."

"Yes, my King!"

With that, the darkly colored knight leapt and flew into the sky, off to examine thoroughly the enormous castle that they now bore witness to. What he observed was shocking to all.

Humans had reentered the digital world again, without the aid of a gate. Not only that, 10,000 of them! Each bearing a weapon. It soon became clear that the humans could neither see nor hear through the digital sphere that encased the castle. Those outside could view in, but those in could not see out. To further complicate matters, the sphere was unbreachable, even for the benevolent king himself. No one could stop what was going on inside.

The knights, each one in turn, watched in horror. They learned all about what was going on inside by observation and conversations of people on the outskirts. And they also watched as the very people they had once fought valiantly on earth to protect were killed. One, by one, four thousand of them died. Two years spent. Then, without warning, the massive sphere emptied. The castle simply dissolved. The unbreachable sphere remained, but it was completely and utterly empty. And so it laid there, as if someone still had some purpose for it, even though it had no maker or purpose to begin with.

Until one fateful day, the large steel castle slowly began to rebuild itself. The knights reported this to King Yggdrasil, who seemed very agitated at the news. But it wasn't like there was anything they could do. Just sit and watch the events unfold. The closer it became to completion, the more irritated the Digital King would become. Until one day he stood from his platform, realization dawning.

"NOOOOO!"

But it was too late. 10,000 digimon of all shapes and sizes were snatched away in an instant.

One minute I was sitting at the kitchen table, brooding about my situation and the next I was standing in Aincrad along with 10,000 other people. Yes. You heard me. Aincrad. I was in Sword Art Online. Only...

I hadn't had a Nerve Gear on.

I looked around to see many stunned and confused reactions, some were pinching themselves and others were just inspecting their surroundings. Some seemed scared.

I looked around out of curiosity to see what it was like. Logic states you should see cursors and health bars at least, like other RPGs. But no, nothing.

_Strange..._

Suddenly, a large red light flashed in the sky. It was a flashing, red hexagon suspended in the air, reading 'WARNING'. They started spreading from the first one, flashing 'WARNING' or 'SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT' on them until they blanketed the sky. An even darker red ooze began to seep from the cracks to form what looked like a kind of red grim reaper, minus the sickle. It was enormous, larger than all the surrounding buildings combined.

"Greetings, players!" The deep voice thundered from the faceless, red hooded mystery. "Now, many of you are probably wondering where you are or how you got to this so called game without a nerve gear. The answer is simple. This is not a game. These," he spoke with a gesture to the crowd of 'players', "...are your real bodies. Don't bother asking how, explanations would go far over your head. Suffice it to say, you were transported here and now must face the task that lay before you. Before I go any further, I just need to make a few adjustments to your parameters."

With a swipe he called his menu up, clicking several buttons. Suddenly, cursors appeared over every single person's head, followed by a health bar soon after. I jumped as the heath bar suddenly appeared in a corner of my vision, as did many other players.

People, I mean. People, not players. I won't get sucked in that easy.

There was no doubt this was real, the 'adjustments' made that obvious. But, would we play along? This was obviously Kayaba. This man had trapped people here, not once, but TWICE.

What's to stop him from doing it again?

Why should we play at all? Why not just hunker down and wait for him to give up and get us home?

Then again... why NOT play along? Its not like real life is any better. Sure, dying is easier here, but life isn't boring anymore. It sure is a heck of a lot better than just being normal.

My mom would be worried...

All the more reason to beat it. Play along, live a little... enjoy it? Just a bit. Don't exactly want people to know, a few people might think I'm sick in the head. I don't enjoy the fact I've been put here in this situation. People would die. Not an 'if'. It would happen. All I could do is protect myself and any who allied with me, if any at all. I would save anyone in a bind, if it was within my power. I won't let this world change me. But for me, this was kind of exhilarating. If this is what i think it is, i could see amazing creatures, fight epic battles, feel adrenaline surging through my system, and in some cases rebel against the laws of physics.

But, for the moment, I curbed my growing... excitement, and turned my attention to Kayaba. "Now. Having these modifications, your bodies will be able to withstand more damage, you will be able to upgrade yourself and your abilities, develop skills and fighting prowess, wield weapons efficiently, and receive buffs as well as channel energy. Learn, and fast, how to fight. Level up and keep fighting through each floor. You are on floor one. Each floor will have a boss, immensely powerful. To get to the next floor, you must beat the boss. To clear the game, you must beat the boss on the hundredth floor. The top floor. And, to aid you on your journey, I have prepared a small surprise for you."

With that, he waved his menu open again, pressing buttons that I couldn't make out, given the distance. Suddenly, everywhere around the room, monsters of all shapes and sizes appeared. They, too, had health bars, in green, not red. So... friendlies? What the hell?

I almost missed what Kayaba said next. "These are creatures that inhabit another world somewhat similar to yours. Collectively known as digimon, each one of them belongs to a different subspecies. I suggest you learn about these sentient beings; I have pulled them from their world much the same way I have you. They are your fellow players and can be powerful allies, or dangerous enemies. I have made it so each player, including digimon, has a small guide on the workings of this world, a starter kit of their own choosing, and a small amount of starting currency. These should aid you as you try to clear the game. It is the only way to escape Sword Art."

Creatures, from another world? They were obviously intelligent, many of them seemed just as horrified of the circumstances and the responses varied from fear to anger to shock. Fascinating. Sentient, and just as captive as us. What did he want to accomplish here?

"Once the game has been cleared, all players will receive a reward and be sent home. Beat the game. The fate of both your worlds depends on this. You will set the precedent for the generations after you in this world, and each of your homeworlds. Play the game, beat it, and i will explain everything to you. For the player who clears the final boss, the pivotal player of the fight, of the game, will lay a special reward. Farewell, you will not hear from me again."

With that, the red ooze seemed to flow over the cloak, disintegrating it, and flowed back up into the red panels above. With a sudden thud that seemed like a quiet thunder, the panels simply vanished from the sky. I observed the other player's reactions. Some were panicked. Others were going catatonic. Some were crying, some were screaming, some were laughing madly. I took special note of those latter players, burning them in my memory.

It's funny, my memory is usually terrible, plagued with forgetfulness and blank images. But as I turned away, every face was crisp and clear. I was usually slow and uncaring, not really applying myself to any task, but now i moved with swiftness and purpose. Here, I was alive. And like Kayaba said. Learn fast, otherwise die.

Thinking back to other RPG's, the guide would be helpful, and you could usually find more information and better tips and guides from NPC's. Normally I just avoid the info and play on my own to find out what to do, but in this case I'll make an exception. But first...

I moved slowly, doing my best to avoid bumping anyone and took special care around the ones that had twisted grins and manic expressions. I made my way carefully out of the square, just managing to slip away unnoticed. I ran behind one of the buildings a small distance away from the square, and decided to do some prep before I left the city entirely.

I mimicked the gesture Kayaba used to open his menu, lining my hand flat and vertical in the air, swiping down. With a slight jingle the menu appeared, and I tapped the holographic-like display to bring up the only item in my inventory. Kayaba had mentioned a starter kit, so lets see what we have.

I clicked it, bringing up yet another menu. This one seemed like you could scroll for an eternity, filled with all kinds of different weapons. There were bows, double handed swords, one handed swords of every kind from rapiers to longswords, daggers, spears, javelins, scimitars, even crossbows. You name the weapon, they had it. All manner of weaponry minus anything magic related and no guns of any kind. Each one was listed multiple times with different skills and equipment next to it, outlining the numerous build routes one could take.

They also had weaponry that bordered on the ridiculous. Massive, misshapen swords, outrageous battle axes, enormous metal gloves that flexed with your hand when you wore them. Among them was something that caught my eye. It was a sword, a huge one, that looked like it was made of thick, sharpened, fist-sized dragon scales in a pattern across the blade, sealed together with glowing red lines of energy. It was several scales wide, razor sharp on both edges of the blade. Called a DragonFlex, it was oddly shaped, the blade's edge curving in odd way, giving a wicked look to it. It could swap between weapon styles, from light and fast to heavy and damaging by re-arranging the scales. It took practice, according to the info on the weapon, to switch, and in its current state it would behave like a two handed sword. The initial difficulty wasn't too bad, but the swapping difficulty was off the charts. The other stats, the look of the blade, and the versatility called out to me, and i finally decided to grab it and the build that focused mostly on attack damage coupled with a little defense. I locked in the choice, pressing the accept button.

My weapon materialized in my grip, a sheath for said weapon fixing against my back firmly. Noting the fact the curves seemed to lock into each other in a way that allowed you to fold it, I bent the blade, moving as if it was hinged by some unseen force, until the curves of the blade locked into each other, allowing me to place it in its sheath. It wasn't anywhere near as heavy as I expected.

The armor menu appeared in front of me, asking if I would like to display or hide my armor, or whether I would like to show only certain pieces. I decided for a little flair, opting for my light, but defensive, overcoat to show, as well as a pair of fingerless, armored gloves that came up half my forearm. I colored dark gray around the cloth part of the gloves and the entire coat, with orange tinted armor on the gloves and orange lining, stitching, collar, and belt on the stylish overcoat.

With a quick nod of approval, I finished my appearance and did a double take on the crowd. They were getting restless, there was a lot of shouting, and some even were standing on others shoulders, riling the crowd with exaggerated gestures and words I couldn't make out. I needed to leave. I checked around a bit, noting a sign that told of the main exit to the city, and broke into a run. They don't need me here for all hell to break loose. I reached the gates, pausing to examine the trail before me. Then I saw it.

It came out of the alleyways with a one handed sword strapped to its back, two purple cloth fingerless gauntlets, armored on top, that engulfed its arms ending in a flair at the tip of the shoulder, and a loose set of black cargo jeans. A fox-like... What were they called? Creature thing, approached. It had small winglets on its shoulders, its fur was a luxurious goldish yellow, and a scowl graced its... uh, muzzle.

I returned said scowl. I didn't need this thing hanging over my shoulder to soak up XP and kill steal my monsters. "Hey, I don't know who or WHAT you are, but don't stick around. I don't know about you creatures, but humans tend to panic when they are scared and are downright dangerous when their life has been threatened. And don't follow me. I don't want you taking all my monster spawns and loot."

It looked confused at my last statement, but shook its head. And SPOKE. Or should I say, SHE spoke.

"It appears our two species may not be as different as I expected, then. I do not know what monster spawns are, but I do plan to survive, and the last thing I need is some pathetic human waddling around me, begging for food and shelter. Suits me fine to split." She said with a flick of her tail and a dismissive glance. YES, I MEAN HER. It is, in fact, a girl... monster whatever.

I felt a twinge of... something. Guilt, for leaving her to figure out leveling and playing when they might not have even have video games where she comes from, a bit of worry over her gameplay and my ability to handle myself, and a concern that now I had to eat and stay healthy in the game even during extensive field grinding. I cooouuuld use some help with the basics of survival... Gaming, sure. That was my thing, but surviving? Making ends meet, getting food and water, making shelter? I needed help. And I could teach her some things about the game... we might both need each other.

And it irritated me.

Already I was having to join with someone to stay alive in this stupid situation! I wasn't going to last a week. I could see the agitation, although masked, on her face. She knew it too. Her tail twitched back and forth.

I sighed and broke the silence. "Dammit."

She sighed and turned to me. "You thought the same thing didn't you?"

"Yep. Temporary truce then?"

She nodded, and I extended my hand in a shake, one she met with reluctance.

"Very well, we need to get out of this place now or risk being followed or worse, accused of knowing about this place." She stated with a nervous glance back to the mob, which was looking like it was about to erupt.

"Agreed." I examined the path before me. "I bet that this leads to the next town, village, or city. Getting there and taking out all the monsters on the way should level us up and keep us ahead of the crowd. Freedom of movement and easy XP are a good thing to have. Plus it would give us a chance to practice the combat system. Hopefully its covered in the guide. Once we reach the next city, we can get more info, quests, and equipment from the NPC, or non-player characters there."

Little if anything I said registered, but she nodded and readied herself. With a nod back to her, we both stepped outside the gate and onto the trail. A notification lit up the screen in front of us. "YOU ARE EXITING A SAFE ZONE!" and in smaller print below, "Your HP can lower and drop to zero, resulting in death. Good luck players!"

As the notification faded, all of it hit me. This, was SAO. This was life now. And if it took all I had, I would play to win.


	2. Chapter 2: Road Trip

**Okay. Yeah. I screwed up. Life got in the way. Things happened. Shit happened. I've dealt with it and did my best to write this chapter for you guys. I'm going to be more dilligent in writing now. I feel up to the challenge, life righting itself again. I need your support, reviews and PMs. Lemme know. Expect an update on my other stories soon! Its already written, but on paper. Editing is a pain, but its worth it for your reviews. Enjoy, review, stay frosty, rock on guys.**

As we walked down the path, I realized that we would need to figure out combat pretty soon. Monsters everywhere, players scared and angry, more of these creatures like the one walking beside me running around. It'd be a good idea to practice before we ran into anything. I stopped and leaned on a nearby boulder, opened my menu and navigated to the guide section.

"I figure we should learn how this game handles fighting. We can't do anything without that. So. Here we are," I stated triumphantly as I opened the section on combat. A book suddenly materialized and dropped into my hands, open to a specific page.

"Huh. Interesting. Combat... 'Welcome to the world of Sword Art, blah blah blah adventure, blah blah blah... This book will tell you all you need to know about the revolutionary combat system of SAO."

I began to pace as I read. I do that a lot.

"When you face an enemy mob or player, you will notice a health bar above them. To defeat your enemy, you must lower their HP, or hit points, to zero. Any hit, be it weapon damage, punches, kicks, or terrain damage (falling from a high place, thrown objects, ect.) will lower their HP if it is strong enough. Weapons do the most damage, and are the recommended way of eliminating your adversaries. For more information about weapons, weapon upgrades, and weapon rarity, see section 5 of this book.

There are two ways to use a weapon. The first is simply slicing your weapon through an opponent, they are swords after all, (or axes or ect.) and will behave as such. The second way of using your weapon is referred to as a sword skill.

Sword skills are specific attacks available to learn as you use your weapon and develop skill at using it. The better you become with your weapon, the more sword skills become available to you. New skills will automatically be added to your skill list. There are an infinite number of sword skills, we wish you luck discovering them all!

Executing a sword skill is unique to each skill. However they all retain the same basic activation once learned. Hold your weapon ready, and focus on your target, even if it is dead air. You'll feel when your weapon has a sword skill loaded. The experience is unique, we cannot describe 'how' it feels. You will know. When you feel the timing is right, use the skill. It guarantees you hit your target, although experienced players may block the attack and negate its damage. Get used to the feel of how you move and position while using the skill to get the maximum effectiveness out of it in combat.

Be sure to continually check your skill list for new skills that may appear and seek out quests that give you new skills. They are powerful tools in beating the game. Good luck players!'"

I shut the book, instantly vaporizing in my hands. The guide menu reopened automatically, and after browsing it for a moment, I closed it out.

"A guide... Book. Ha."

I get it now.

She raised an eyebrow at me, arms crossed.

"What? So, the system seems simple enough. Unfortunately, we need real life swordsmanship. Means we need practice. Until we master that, we are gonna rely too heavy on these 'sword skills' to ensure we hit. Speaking of which..."

I reached over my back, gripping the handle of my dragonflex. I drew my weapon forward, the massive sword unfolding into the beast it was. It was enormous, almost bigger than I was, yet I wielded it with little effort. These body mods of Kyaba's were really something. Almost wish I had them in the real world. Of course, could you imagine walking through an airport twirling this monster of a blade?

Tackles for days.

Anyway, I spotted a nearby pig thing, ripe for the taking. Hoping it was a weak mob and, uttering a silent prayer, I approached it. They were neutral - nonviolent until attacked - I noted as I crept closer to my target. I raised my blade in my hands and swung wildly with a battle cry, hoping my skill would activate.

"AAAARGGGH!"

It hit the mob (barely) and glanced to the side. Its HP dropped, reading about 85% now. It jumped away, the burly beast spinning to face me, eyes aglow with red, clearly aggroed. (Aggrivated at you, or attracted to killing you. Gaming terms)

My skill obviously never loaded. And now I had to face this thing while it was trying to end my life.

Oh joy.

It charged madly, and I barely dodged to the right before it blazed past me. The mad boar or pig or whatever turned and charged AGAIN, and i managed an even more narrow of a dodge than last time. I would never get a hit at this rate, much less kill it. No matter the damage it does, I could die here.

"Argh, enough! Could you distract it? I need a moment!" I called to the strange creature whose name and species I have yet to learn.

She nodded, previously standing ready to help if it looked like I was losing. She engaged the monster with a kick when it turned to face me again, nimbly leaping around it, 1 HP hits to it when she could. The beast was furious, absolutely unable to hit either of its targets.

I tried again, pouring my focus onto my target. I felt, I don't know how to describe it. A vibration, a tingle, a sensation; small, but there. Thinking I had it, I swung again, landing a hit to its shoulder. Again, my blade had little effect, only dropping the beasts HP by 5%.

The hog reacted with a wild swing of its head, slamming one of its tusks into the fox. She screamed, holding the spot where he hit, now stained with a glittering blue mark. Her HP dropped by 28%, and she quickly leapt away to avoid another swing.

It charged at her again, ramming her full on while she was off balance, dropping her HP down to 35%. She couldn't take much more, one more hit and she could be through!

All because of me.

I roared in anger, turning the beast my way. He bellowed in kind and charged again, aiming his ivory weapons at me. I raised my massive sword over my shoulder and took a page out of this thing's book, charging at it full speed.

Time slowed down, it seemed. The monster, eyes red with rage plowing towards me as fast as its programming allowed. Me, wielding a sword that rivaled my own weight and size, eyes focused on my target, who I was fighting for clearly fixed in mind. It was then I felt it. An overwhelming vibration, a sensation from my hands gripping the blade. My blade felt alive, like it was telling me it was time. I barely noticed it glow a blinding orange light or the steel sound it made as the skill loaded into the weapon, into ME.

Suddenly I dashed forward in the blink of an eye. I was hovering midair a good distance behind the monster, blade extended, and a solid sparkling orange mark like a trail from where I started to where I was. The hog was frozen in place, mouth agape, a scything mark matching the color of the trail where my sword had passed through.

It seemed to fuzz out, then explode in a flash of white, leaving a cloud of rainbow colored fragments behind. I felt my feet touch ground, like nothing had happened, like the laws of physics hadn't just been broken. A menu appeared where the beast had died, showing how much experience and gold I had earned, as well as a few items that had dropped. A similar screen appeared in front of me, and at the bottom was a blue icon with a white circle inside it, prompting me to claim my loot.

I panted heavily, coming down from the rush of adrenaline in my system, not even looking at the menu for the moment. It was, indescribable. I had done something impossible. But yet, now, perfectly normal. The yellow fox stood holding her side, quietly observing me from a distance behind an emotionless gaze that always seemed fastened there. I won't let her pay for my mistakes.

I don't know who she is or anything about her, but I know she doesn't deserve that.

I looked to my menu, noting the items.

Gold: 23 G

Exp: 47 XP

Items: 2 F-Class Health Potions (restores 35 HP)

1x Long Sword (Basic)

I accepted the items, then opened my menu. I found and opened my inventory, and clicked one of the health pots (potions). It appeared in the air, and I took advantage of the few seconds it defied gravity to grab it and toss it too my fox-like companion.

"Here. Drink it. It'll pull your health back up. It dropped off the monster."

She opened the bottle and pressed it to her lips until she heard my last comment, quickly holding it at arms length. Oh, right. No idea what a drop is.

"No, not like that. In video games, monsters - like that one - have a certain chance of dropping items. They aren't actually made by the monster, even though some of the items may try to make you think that in their descriptions. That is a health potion. It also dropped a basic sword, but its no better than the ones we have."

"We went after that monster for that?" She scoffed. She took a sip with a little trepidation, then quickly gulped down the rest. Her HP bar slowly refilled to its maximum, changing from yellow back to the vibrant green. I wonder what it tastes like.

"No. We will need those as time goes on, but the main reason was for gold and XP. Gold is the form of currency here, and the best way to get it is either opening a shop, doing quests, or killing lots of monsters. XP can only be obtained through killing monsters or doing quests, and we will get to the quest thing later. Just know that XP lets us level up once we reach a predetermined amount. The higher our level, the more quests open up, the more damage we do, we take less damage from monsters due to upped defense, we can get more skills, better weapons, and so on. We can clear tougher and tougher bosses and clear this game. XP is the most important thing we can get. You should have gotten some too as an assist. Look your menu."

She complied, a stat screen displaying the assist and about half the gold and XP I got. She mused over it a moment, as if absorbing the information. Or maybe she was simply accepting that this was her new life for now. I saw a look of finality and something of determination interrupt her emotionless gaze for just split second before she closed her eyes and dismissed the menu.

She gave a deep sigh, as if releasing her past life in an exhale of breath. Compelled, I did the same, releasing all thought of my past life with the promise and condition to return to such thinking only once this was over. It would only serve to cloud the road ahead. She opened her eyes and turned them toward me, the emotionless gaze once again returned.

"Very well. Thank you. Now, let me try this... sword move."

"Sword Skill." I corrected.

She gave me a look, one I simply cannot describe nor dare to try. I quickly shut my mouth and set myself to scanning for another mob to eradicate if only to get her focus off of me. Now that I knew what I was doing, we could clear these things with relative ease and safety.

Spotting one close by, I pointed to the hideous creature. She acknowledged with a nod and drew her weapon, stealthily approaching the beast.

For the first time I looked at her in a different light. She was determined, silent a lot of the time we had been walking, but not like she was brooding over her situation. More like she was thinking, analyzing, planning. She was even a little attractive, if you looked past the fur. Lean muscles, slender figure, even a little swing in her hips that accentuated her tight, well rounded...

NOPE. Let's not go there.

Besides. If your eyes happened to drift there, there might've been a tail blocking your view. A TAIL. So.

Moving on.

She quietly approached the boar, although I didn't bother to tell her she could've paraded up there for all it cared. It was neutral, wouldn't aggro unless you caused its health to drop. She drew her sword, the metal of it gleaming in the sunlight. She stared at the beast with an intensity few could muster, trying to load a skill.

*Good luck. It'll take a while. Someone's life was in danger for me to get the hang of it. It'll be a while before you can...*

My thoughts were interrupted by a metallic sound of epic proportions. Her weapon glowed a deep, almost neon purple. Her skill was loaded, her focus drilling into the hog. I'm surprised it didn't just die from that.

She let loose a war cry that echoed across the valley and to the gates of the town we'd left hours ago. Fury seemingly imbued into her being, she dashed towards her prey and with blinding speed her sword slashed through the beast sideways, enough to slice it in two. Magically, it stayed in one piece, the glowing purple trail accentuating the ridiculous wound she had inflicted.

I almost felt bad for the thing.

Almost.

It broke up into tiny little shards hardly a moment later, each one floating in place until they all vanished. The vixen stood in their wake, assessing her stat screen. She accepted the items and sheathed the sword onto her back, turning slightly to face me.

"Ready to keep moving?"

She raised an eyebrow after a moment, having caught me staring.

I stammered in response, trying to form a coherent sentence. "I, uh, yeah, we should, um, yeah..."

She just chuckled slightly to herself and started walking down the trail again. Lacking any other real option, I ran to catch up, matching her stride. She seemed more... relaxed now, and it showed as we walked down the trail. I still filled the silence as I talked about games and how they work but she commented more and asked questions more out of interest than purpose. She had seemingly accepted we were together, as opposed to just tolerating me earlier. Who knows? We may actually survive the night.

I don't know how long we will need each other, but i think we could at least work together well enough for the time being.

We made it to the next town finally, both of us exhausted and ready to drop. It had taken most of the day and our energy just to get here, and even still it was late. The sun had already started to set, ushering in the night.

It was strange, this world. It seemed like I'd been here forever. The days and nights were like normal, 24 hour periods, so that helped. The sun behaved just like the real one too. Rising in the east and setting in the west, casting its warmth on the ground below. Even the sunsets were something to behold. For a video game, this world seemed even more real than the other sometimes.

I stopped just outside the gates to the new city, taking a moment to soak in the sunset and observe the beautiful scenery of the valleys we had crossed. The sun bathed everything in a golden orange glow as it sank into the horizon, almost like its last gift to us as it disappeared.

I breathed a deep sigh as I broke the trance it put me in, shifting my focus to the tasks at hand. I turned to my traveling companion, who was also entranced by the beauty this dangerous world held.

"We're going to need to shell out some cash for a place to stay, one of the local inns probably. I don't know about you, but I'm beat."

She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her... Nose? Muzzle? Face? Her trance had been broken as well, bringing her around.

"Very well. I'll stay in the same inn in an adjacent room so we don't become separated."

That gave me an idea, one I shelved for later. For now, I tracked down a NPC (non-player character) and asked if there were any inns. I wasn't even sure it'd respond, but not only did it notice me as I approached, it smiled and greeted me. He pointed to several nearby places.

"Don't have any money, head to that one. Not too clean though... That one is really nice, but it'll cost you a pretty penny. That one there is about average. Nothing special, its clean and won't break your bank."

I thanked him and walked back to the fox, more information than I originally intended under my belt. The programming is insane. He seemed like a real person! I couldn't tell the difference.

I gave her the rundown and we both agreed the 'average' one would do for our purposes. And that is how we found ourselves in our current predicament.

"How much a night?!"

"600 gold per room sir."

"That's ridiculous!"

"If you don't like it sir, you may stay at the inn down the road, they only charge 50 per night. I hope you have some way to wash the sheets."

I sighed, negotiations pretty well shut down. We'd killed whatever was close to the trail, but as night fell we had to skip a few as we tried to make it here before dark.. God knows what spawns at night.

I turned to my furry companion, hoping for good news. "I've got around 530, how about you?"

She clumsily opened her menu, trying to mimic the way I showed her earlier. "About... 400..."

Damn. That means...

I looked out the window to the cheap inn, observing a board that had been nailed lazily across a broken window.

Damn.

"Just one room please."

"Very well sir."

I looked at the fox, gauging her reaction. Her eyes bored into me, as if trying to read my soul.

I asked her to pay 200 out, I covered the other four. I felt like I'd be paying for this in more than money later.

"We can... room together... just this once." I said shakily, hoping I wouldn't anger her.

The receptionist handed me a key and asked me my name. Suddenly, a menu appeared in front of me, prompting me to name my character. Since we paid for the same room together, it appeared in front of the fox too. I almost entered my real name, before I paused and smiled.

"Its a new world! Why not a new name?"

I paused as i considered a nickname I've always wanted to stick. Dragon.

I typed it in, and pressed enter. Above my health in the top left corner of my vision, my new title appeared.

Fit my weapon too. Cool.

I Looked to the fox, hoping to catch her new name too. She looked from me to her menu, and after hesitating, changed it. I watched the letters. She had Renamon on her screen. She changed it to... Rena, and pressed enter, heaving a (nervous?) sigh.

The receptionist, clearly bored, handed us the key and dismissed us. "Room 104."

We hiked to the second floor, finding our room. I chanted silently to myself over and over again. *please let there be a couch. A second bed. A futon. A rug. Please please please...*

I swung the now unlocked door open dramatically to reveal...

One bed. One chair. A sink. And a toilet room.

Hopes, dreams, shattered. If it came down to it, I would curl up on the floor. I'm not doing it. Not that.

Rena drew her own conclusion, her face unreadable.

We both walked in, tired and ready to sleep. She stretched, leaned against a wall, and shut her eyes.

"Take the bed." She ordered flatly.

Like hell.

"No."

Rena's eyes snapped open and I resisted the urge to dart under the covers and hide.

"Its fine, just take it. I'm used to sleeping like this."

"In that case I'm sure as hell not taking it. I've known you for what, a day? I know you don't deserve that."

That seemed to stun her, which was entirely new. Nothing did that, not even when she came close to death earlier today.

"Listen," I continued, "I won't sleep unless you're in the bed. So take it."

She shook herself from her daze. Thinking for a moment, she walked over to the furniture in question. I nodded and started to walk away before a paw grabbed my shirt and dragged me onto the bed.

She settled on her side, eyeing me to see if I'd run for it.

"What? No. Nonononono." I stammered.

"I won't sleep unless you take the bed."

My own words came back and hit me in the face. Fine.

I pulled off my jacket, resting it on the chair and kicked off my shoes. I settled in on my side, putting as much distance as I could between us.

"Goodnight, Rena."

"Goodnight. Dragon."

I crinkled my nose. Well..

"Call me Justin."

And with that I was asleep, too tired to care that I was sleeping with a female fox from another world I just met.

Life is weird.


	3. Chapter 3: The Plan

**Heeeelllooooo readers! What? Is this chapter a little too close to the last one? I THINK NOT. I'm updating regularly now. Or maybe just more frequently. Baby steps, folks. Baby steps. Now. Down to the nitty gritty. I've lost inspiration on my DDGN story... It was a description of me and my best friend from childhood. Aaaand... he's gone. Left me here holding the check so to speak. I feel kinda lost without him around, and i've lost all will to power through a fake relationship in my story. I'll do my best to keep writing if only for you folks. Just remember that. I'll put this author's note on my main page as well, so everyone knows. Note, these next few chapters here are all owed to Vantage77 as he is collaberating with me on this story, giving me some OC's and fueling my imagination. He might even co-write this with me, so get psyked! If you haven't checked his page out yet, do so. Awesome stories. (A lot better than this shit, lol) So, without further ado, here is ch 3!**

**Wait. A bit of ado. Just so you know, this is split writing between a tablet and my computer, so *word* and **_**word**_** are both thoughts. Just the italics aren't available on the tablet... :/ sorry. Now... So, without further ado, here is ch 3!**

I awoke the next morning, surprisingly well rested. I haven't slept this well in FOREVER. I scooched my legs off the bed, not quite ready to move around the room just yet. Yawning, I stretched from my sitting position and wondered why I felt so different. I felt lighter, and stronger... and... and...

I snapped out of bed, practically leaping to a standing defensive position.

_SAO. Aincrad. Fighting. Danger. Monsters. Woman. Wait, woman? Since when did I hang out with..._

A sound from my right made me pivot to face the slumbering kitsune, another jolt to my overclocked system.

_I'm travelling with a monster supposedly from another world. Its a girl, and on top of it, we just SLEPT TOGETHER. Well, not like that, but... still. _

I slowly proccessed yesterday's events. It was a lot to take in, and I feel like its just now hitting me. I chewed through every fact, every truth, every possibility. I didn't move an inch for several minutes, just thinking things through.

Things were bleak for most people, but I was already ahead of the curb. I can't save them all, nor would I try to lead them. But the few that I could help, I would. And the very few that wanted to join me, I'd accept. Right. My philosiphy thus far for staying alive and keeping human.

I slowly uncurled from my defensive posture and took a deep breath in.

Hold.

Breathe out.

Okay.

My normal and calm demeanor returning, I decided to shell out a few more col and grab some breakfast for me and the fox.

_Her name is now Rena. And it would appear her species is called renamon, if last night was any indication. So the next generation takes the name of the species? They must not spend much time together if that's the case. How lonely that must get._

I returned from my thoughts and from downstairs, bringing a tray heaped with bacon, eggs, toast, orange juice, and coffee into our room. The poor girl was still fast asleep, her chest heaving in and out at irregular intervals.

I smiled to myself, setting the tray down on the small table near the door. I gently walked over to the furry mess, giving her a light shake on the shoulder.

"Morning sunshine. Up and at 'em. We got people to see and things to kill, and things to see and people to kill. ... Well... scratch that last bit. C'mon. Let's go."

What? Too soon? Fine. My jokes need some work.

My thoughts were interrupted by a paw flying towards my face.

_Oh shit._

It gripped my neck firmly as a furred foot shot out and tucked under the backside of my knee, flipping me onto the bed as she used the momentum and my wieght against me to roll on top of my chest. Her legs pinned mine, and my arms were both pinned by her free hand above my head, the other one never leaving it's grasp dangerously close to my jugular.

"R-r... ren-rena!" I barely managed to choke out. "I-It's me. Let me go, p-please."

I started to get dizzy, and for just a moment i started to worry. Then her eyes seemed to refocus, blinking a couple of times. She took in her current stance, and my current state, taking just one precious second more to put all the pieces together, and finally released me as quickly as she had pinned me.

I've never seen anyone backpedal away that fast.

"Dragon! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

I find it hilarious that you are asking me this while 3 feet from the door and as far away from me as possible. How did you even move that fast? And why on earth are you breaking for the exit?

*mental sigh*

I suppressed those thoughts, the not so nice side of my personality, with a slight shake of my head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just trying to wake you for breakfast," I choked out. I rubbed the sore spot on my throat, feeling a hidden sting. "*cough* Yowzers, you have a grip. There aren't any claw marks, are there?"

She sheepishly flicked her gaze up at my neck, briefly met my eyes, and then quickly moved back at the ground. Her mouth opened and she seemed to falter, presumably debating whether to lie to me.

I interrupted her, saving the poor thing from a moral debate about wether to lie to me or not.

"It's fine Rena. And I told you, call me Justin. Just not in front of other players." I would love to have a nickname stick, but I kinda wanted her to call me by my real name. I don't quite know why though.

"C'mon, sit! I brought breakfast. I know there isn't really any super healthy stuff here, but you don't gain weight or need specific vitamins or calories. Should taste relatively the same too."

She seemed apprehensive now, which I didn't want. Oh well. She gingerly pulled the other chair out and sat down next to me while I tried to overcome the awkward silence by digging into the food. Rena quickly followed suit, obviously just as bothered by the silence as me.

The food in here was decent. I mean, it was dirt cheap and low class ingredients, but even so with the right people preparing the meal you could bring a little life to any dish. I savored the bacon and eggs, doing my best to slow down and chew. Didn't want to get an upeset stomach later. Is that even possible in here? I mean, we did bend the laws of physics after all. We could probably do all kinds of stuff. With pain reducers, fistfights wouldn't really be an issue aside from a little knockaround, you could try to commit suicide all you want in safe zones. Wasn't gonna happen (Lest you jumped off the edge of the rails of the edge of the world of course). You could even jump from buildings and hit the ground without risk of dying or breaking anything. Wait, could you break your arm?

Meanwhile, while my mind wandered off on a train of thought no one could follow or track, the kitsune had finished her plate while I had come to almost complete stop, my brain incapable of running both the train and my hands at the same time.

Rena eyed me curiously, all the while I was completely and utterly oblivious to any outward input. Choosing to let me go about my spacewalk, she turned her thoughts inward as she let her gaze drift out the window.

_I wonder where he goes. He did this along the trail too. He _finally _ran out of things to talk about and then it seemed like he did a complete 180. He was silent, thoughtfully gazing ahead, only pausing to speak if I had spoken to him first (a rare occurance to say the least). I couldn't tell if he was mocking me for being so quiet earlier or just had a lot on his mind. This is a rather sick... game we've been trapped in. No different from a digimon's perspective however. _

She straightened slightly at her realization.

_Come to think of it, it seems a lot like the human and digital worlds combined. The unusual physics and chance of death and deletion like the digital world. And the obvious cultural influence from the human world, seeing as I didn't recodnize many of the types of structures, weapons, and creatures that littered this world. Like human imagination put to work on a small digiworld. And... it seems as though there is a unique... aspect to this place. One I couldn't quite put a finger on..._

She was jolted from her thoughts by a nagging feeling that she was being watched. Returning to the helm of her ship, she brought the cameras back into focus. She tuned the audioscope back in and flicked the radar back on to search for any signs of danger. All systems back online, She pulled the vessel out from the nebula of inner thought, coming about to bring into view...

Me. Staring at her with an inquisitive look, now completely aware again having finished my half of the food.

"Welcome back." I chuckled, standing to clear the table. "Sorry I spaced there, it happens. Though I see you seemed to be plauged by the same thing, so I don't feel as bad."

I emptied the garbage into the small trash can, placing the tray and other dishes into the sink for the maid. I tidied our living space, moving quickly. There was still some hope to get a little bit of an edge on grinding this morning, and I wasn't about to waste any more time. Satisfied, I left a small tip of a few col for the cleaning lady, and motioned her to join me as I strode out the door.

"You certainly seem in a hurry." Rena remarked as we left the hotel. I paused for a moment to stretch, taking in the morning sunlight. I saw a few other cursors walking around, very sparse mind you. Intuitive playe... ah people who left the first town behind to be quickly consumed by the less inteligent while they themselves made a break for better places. I made a note of faces as I passed them. These seemed to know what was going on, and were adapting fast. Good people to know if things went downhill.

"Yeah, I want to get grinding as soon as possible. Quests, mobs, dungeons, and maybe get a hold of a little better gear."

Once again, she seemed completely lost. I gave an invoulentary sigh.

"Let's walk and I'll do my best to explain. What are you confused about?"

She rolled her eyes and gave me a look that was pretty obvious to figure out.

I had to explain everything.

"Pick something to give me somewhere to start."

"Fine. What is a quest, and why are they so important?"

I smiled, changing direction as I thought of a way to answer her question. "Well, let me demonstate." I picked out an NPC through a window that looked rather exhasperated, running around her shop and stacking crates and moving around with some sort of hellbent purpose. "Most games will give indicators above NPC's heads about quests, but this one doesn't. More realistic I suppose, but finding a quest isn't that difficult." We sauntered into the small store and I approached the woman with a smile and a hello.

"Listen, I'd love to help you, but I'm very busy trying to open for you and all the other customers, so it'll have to wait." the woman gave in reply, never so much as stopping. I shook my head and picked up one of the crates she was currently trying to move and helped her stack it up with the others in the display.

"No problem! I was just wondering if we could help you with anything. We're new here and looking for some work."

An exclamation point appeared above her head, lighting up a bright blue. Rena gave a slight gasp, not used to seeing these types of things in games.

"I'm so glad you asked." she stated, mopping her brow. "I'm up to my neck here in things to do, but stacking a few crates isn't an issue. I'm due to open in a half-hour and I am low on a number of things I need to keep these shelves stocked." She motioned with a free hand to said shelves, heaving a sigh. "I don't suppose you could help me?"

A quest accept box appeared, prompting me to make a decision. Before continuting, I quickly opened my menu, navigating to the friend's section. I sent a friend request to Rena, giving her instructions on how to accept. Then shortly after I sent a party request from yet another menu. After a brief moment, her name appeared below mine, along with her HP. Excellent. Now it should work.

I pressed the accept button, flashing a grin to our new employer. "We'd love to help. What kinda stuff do you need?"

The exclamation point vanished into thin air as soon as I'd accepted.

"Well, for starters, we'll see just what kinda stuff you can get. These monsters aren't exactly friendly you know. A few boar hides, say... 10. And I want at least 5 of their tusks too. And if you happen to spot any wolves around, I'll give you good money for their pelts. You don't have to grab those last ones though. I'll pay you 350 col each for gathering the boar stuff, and an extra 75 for every wolf pelt. Sound fair?"

I nodded, giving her a cheesy thumbs up. "Don't worry! We'll have your stuff in no time."

She shook her head, returning my grin at last. "You better! You've got til opening. Otherwise the deal's off."

A timer appeared in the top right of my screen, showing a decreasing 30 minutes. "Right, let's get a move on! Ready?"

She nodded, and we started the walk to the gate out of town, following the signs. "So. Any questions?" I asked.

"So quests are essentially jobs? They pay out a certain amount of money in exhange for a service or item?" Rena iterated, keeping pace.

"Basically."I dodged a careless NPC. They sure did act like real people... "The quest requirements will vary. Some want you to gather some items, some want you to kill a certain amount of mobs. Oh, and mobs are any kind of creature that we can kill by the way. Some want you to escort them places, some want this, some want that. It's different for every character. Our job is to find the people offering quests, and complete them. They give us a load of XP, lots of col, some give reward items, and are a good way to give us something to do during the day. We can grind, or kill lots of monsters over and over and over again, in between our quests for junk items we can sell and extra col and XP."

She nodded, processing the new information. I was used to this kind of thing, having been a bit of a game freak back in the real world. The only difference was now I was actually living it! And I didn't have to stop to deal with people or homework or interruptions. I could do what I always loved doing.

Play the game.

Back in high school, I was your stereotypical nerd. I played video games, got good grades, avoided school events like the plauge, and hadn't the slightest idea how to talk to girls. I wasn't bullied with too much however. You'd have to be a little crazy to mess with a 240 pound muscled construction worker, no matter how weird they were.

Yep, I worked construction. Made me tough, and took the edge off a lot of the 'nerd' personality I had. Gave me a decent build, but I still ate a lot so it was kind of unnoticed. I was pretty big to start with. Huge hands, thick, massive tree trunks of legs, broad chest. Not really tall, just stout really. And so with my unique set of circumstances, I became kind of an idealist. Always looking for the best in people, trying to listen and help everyone I could. But there were times when they wanted so much from me it was all I could do just to get away. I would sink myself in a world where I could have the strength to help others, to fight enormous obstacles, and to find friends of like mind.

I played video games.

And the moments where I would be sucked from this world, rudely and cruelly, to perform some menial task or another, would hurt. I wanted to help people in the real world. I wanted to see the good in them. But the sad fact of it was, I was powerless to help. And people were awful, selfish beings bent on causing as much hurt to others as they could. The world was cruel, and the rules you played by made little to no sense to anyone. I wanted nothing to do with it.

No more chores demanded of me just because i'm strong. No more laughing at me for being a little strange. No more failed attempts to find someone who loved me. No more any of it.

This was my game now. And I planned on being the best.

After about 10 minutes of hacking away at unfortunate pigs and wolves, we had gotten all the quest items we needed, plus about 4 or 5 wolf pelts. Those things were nasty. They were naturally aggroed on sight, so you had to be fast. They came close to sinking their teeth in me a time or two, and that is a time or two more than I'm comfortable with.

We'd only used our sword skills, (more accurately, sword _skill_. Only had the one for the each of us) still no idea how to wield them as weapons. I made a note to search out a way to learn some swordsmanship from a player or perhaps some NPC taught classes.

Anyway, with items in hand we made our way back to the shop to recieve our reward. She was a bit shocked by the speed we were able to get the items, and was quite pleased to see a good number of pelts there as well.

"Good job! A lot better than I expected of two newbies."

I blinked in surprise. Was there just a break in the fourth wall?

"So rookies. My name's Amelia. I've been looking around for a set of capable hands to help me out around this place, and it seems like I just found them. I want to give you exclusive rights to the bigger jobs that I need done around here, and I'll even message you when it comes time for one. In return, you can have a discount when you buy stuff from me and I'll pay you a little extra for the smaller jobs that crop up. If you don't want to, I can still work some of the smaller stuff your way, but you can forget the bonus and the discount and the big jobs I'll save for someone who will take them seriously. So. Are you in?"

She flicked open her menu (NPC's have menus!) and after a series of clicks a box appeared in front of me.

'Would you like to recieve quests from Amelia?' It read, with the traditional red X and blue O confirmation I was starting to get accustomed to.

I confirmed it and another menu appeared, explaining the details. To help keep Rena informed, I motioned her over and read it aloud.

"When you accept a full or part time job from NPC's, you agree to have their quests messaged to you. They usually come with their own perks from the NPC and give bigger tasks and subsequent rewards for completion. It locks out all quests from the rivals of the NPC you've chosen however, so choose wisely! Even if you choose to leave your job, they may decide they still don't want your services. Find out the rivals of your chosen NPC and pick accordingly for the best quests and rewards." I closed the menu out, mentally kicking myself.

"So who constitues YOUR rival miss Amelia?"

She quirked an eyebrow at my 'miss' but gestured to the shop directly across from hers. "I suppose THAT could constitute as my 'rival'. More like pain in my ass."

I gave the shop a once over. It didn't look that bad. "Why's that?"

"Whenever I drop a sale on one of my items, he always drops his a little lower and puts it on sale at the same time. Players looking for that item always go to his shop instead of mine and it practically rapes my profits. He never puts up sales aside from when I do, but because of his tricks he has a larger client base and they tend to buy his other overpriced horse shit simply because they never walked in here."

Amelia's arms gestured wildly as she spoke, her voice tinted with a slight Scottish accent. This game has no limits does it? Deciding to get a better idea of who I was working for, I gave the rest of her a once over without checking her out. Not that she would notice, she was hacking away at some form of fruit with a fury I'd rather not find aimed at me. She was fairly short with black hair in mild curls running just past her shoulders. A simple leather breastplate covered her modest bust and decent figure. A black leather belt hung at a slight angle from her waist to her hip, and a simple one-handed sword dangled from her belt in its sheath. She wore a set of dark green, comfortable jeans, and a matching colored bracelet accented her wrist. The most notable thing about her outfit, though, was the dazzling blue earrings she wore. They dangled from both her ears, a plate of the electric blue color inside of moderately sized silver hoops.

It complemented her look rather well. Modest, capable, and intruiging. I think I've chosen my employer rather well.

"So. What is 'his' name?"

"'His' name is Drake, and by the way, I don't appreciate my new help checking out his new employer." She emphasized her words with a downswing on a rather helpless looking fruit, a little more force than neccesary applied.

Yep. I DEFINITELY chose my employer well.

Instead of flustering, I gave an exaggerated bow and a large grin. "Aha! Observant as well! I was NOT checking you out, just memorizing what you look like so if you have to move your shop I would know which stunning figure to look for."

I thought I handled that pretty well.

"You know now you could just message me from your friend section. I'm in there now."

My grin vanished. Damn it.

"Nice try though." She added, shaking her head as she went back to her tasks at hand.

I had an idea, but I needed one more bit of info before I could do it.

"Ma'am?"

"Yes?" she replied, exhasperation creeping into her voice.

"One last thing. What is an item you and your competition have very little of, not incredibly expensive, but in high demand?"

She seemed a bit puzzled but thoughtfully pondered my question. "Well, the wolf pelts go fast, but they can be a bit pricey. The fruits aren't too expensive, but we keep them in good stock. Hmmmm... the flints! They are used a lot by people in the field to keep their swords sharp, start fires, and as rudimentary knives. They're pretty cheap, and we all are due for a shipment in a little over a week. Why do you ask?"

I smiled. "Put them on sale, a hair lower than usual. And trust me. I'll be back a little later, I'm going to need some extra col if I'm going to put your shop on the map." I grimaced at the amount of mobs this would take.

She seemed confused, but I couldn't reveal my plan just yet. With a sigh, she opened her menu and sent a trade request over. I had no idea why, I just accepted. She dropped in... a few hundred col? And then didn't ask for a thing in return. What?

"If it will get my shop rolling and you think it will work, I've run out of ideas. If this doesn't work though, I'm coming after your ass for that money, if I have to work you til you drop."

I accepted, and put my plan into action. I bid her a farewell and promised to be back in a half-hour, heading into the field to do just a bit of grinding to fill in the time. Rena stayed silent most of the time (as usual, apparently), so I couldn't tell if she was onto the same idea as me.

About the time a half hour had rolled around, I made my way back to the shop. Sure enough, the rival shop had dropped the price lower than Amelia's, and with a confident in my step I strolled into the other shop.

A bald, gruff, and slighly bulky man greeted me. "Morning! Anything I can help you with?"

"Well, I've been looking for a shop that sells flints and wolf pelts, I need them for a bit of a crafting project I had in mind, and I saw your prices were a bit lower." I lied, trying my best to smile.

"Absolutely! How much do you need?"

"How much flint do you have?"

He gave a grin, working in his mind how he would drop the price to dirt cheap on the flint, then catch me on the far more expensive pelts. He thought he was gonna make out here. Jokes on him though.

"Well, I've got about 15 pieces left, but since you're new in here I'll drop the price on both the flint and the wolf pelts! Long as you come back."

That was a lie, and he knew it. Smug ass grin all over his face.

I gave a fake grin in return, trying my best to seem excited. "Thanks mister!"

"Seeing as I have them up for about 18 col each, how about i drop it to 15?"

I winced visibly.

"I can't do my project with prices like that. I need a bunch of pelts still..."

Now it was my turn to lie.

"Fine. 12?"

I eyed the other store before meeting his eyes.

"10. Last offer."

"Deal!"

I pulled out the col and placed it on the counter, and smiled as he made the rookie mistake of handing me the flints before closing on the pelts.

"Now about these pelts..." he said, pulling one down.

"Na, I think I'm good."

He flatlined. He'd practically given away a staple his shop would depend on in hopes of swindling me for a larger buy, and had gambled and lost. Sorry.

I smiled and gave a wave to the highway robber as I exited his shop, stepping into Amelia's place with the flint.

"Now. Here is your spare col," I said, dropping the excess back in a trade request, quickly adding the bag of flint. "And there is your business! He should be out of those for a while, and now that yours are on sale you can make a decent profit! He practically gave them away when I told him I needed a bunch of wolf pelts. Thought he'd take my money, but oh well."

I grinned even wider than before, proud of my work. And to ice the cake...

"Oh! And we are the first of a large group of players that'll be coming through. I'll put up some ads and talk up your shop to people so after the flint sale goes away you should have a decent client base built up. Not to mention the grumpy customers that'll abandon Drake once they realize he is lacking a major staple and that all his other stuff is pricey."

She stared back at me, dumbfounded. It wasn't a bulletproof plan, I mean Mr. Drake could always try to hire some poor sap to find more flint, but even then he lost out on a good profit and Amelia's customer base would build up regardless.

"Th-thank you!" She stared at the menu for a moment before accepting, the money vaporizing into her inventory and sack magically disappearing from my arms into hers.

"No problem! Message us if you need help again!" I smiled, waving back to our new boss. Rena surprised me and did the same, turning her attention back to the road as we exited the small brick buiding.

"Anything else you don't understand?" I cracked to my companion. She simply smiled and shook her head.

"No. I think you covered most of it."

I returned the rare expression of emotion from my partner, wondering what else we were going to do with our day.

"HEY! Wait!"

I turned back to see Amelia running after us, waving wildly. This new employer of ours sure had a dramatic streak to her, I tell you.

"You forgot something!" She explained, opening her menu. She pressed a few buttons, and all of a sudden a popup appeared on my screen:

"QUEST COMPLETE!"

A small blue circle lit up after a moment, allowing me to press it to recieve my rewards.

For some reason my XP bar showed up, closer to full than I had realized. I watched as the XP total rasied higher and higher until...

DING!

A flash of sparkles littered my vision, cast off from the words, "Level Up!" brilliantly displayed in front of me in white. A fanfare of instruments rang out a tone, and a small reward screen displayed an increase of my stats a little more privately in front of me, showing a good increase in all departments. One by one several notifications were listed below my statistics.

"New Weapons and Weapon Upgrades Unlocked!"

"New Defensive Items and Upgrades Unlocked!"

"You can now learn new Sword Skills!"

"Items earned:

Weapon Upgrade: +1

Full Armor Upgrade: +1

Class F Health Potions x5

"Col Earned:

750 C "

The game proceeded to add the items to my inventories and the extra XP and Col to my overall totals. The extravagant display faded, and I dragged myself back to... reality? Can I call it that? Nothing else to describe it for the time being.

I watched Rena go through a similar experience, watching her reaction idly. Not much in her expression changed. Why wasn't I surprised? I let her have her moment before I broke silence to speak to Amelia.

"Thank you very much. Say, how often can you do that?"

"What? You mean pay you?"

"You mean you didn't just see that huge display?"

"No..."

"Ah. Well. Thank you Miss Amelia. Look forward to working with you again."

"Same! See you later you two."

As the NPC returned to her shop, I paused to connect a few dots in my head.

"So... NPC's don't register them as quests, more like jobs. And they don't see us like players, they see us as people. Makes sense. I wonder if the AI can determine the truth..."

It was most certainly artificial intelligence. I wasn't aware it was possible until now. If it had appeared in the previous Aincrad, then the information was locked away along with the rest of the SAO survivor information.

"I see. Interesting. So an NPC like a digimon that has been programmed a certain way?"

Rena turned to me, leaving the question to hang in the air. Her icy blue irises almost demanded an answer, seemingly always peircing right through mine. My heartrate picked up slightly for some reason, and I looked away first.

"I... don't know what you mean. What are you? And I mean it in a way to find information on the subject and not to be rude."

She didn't so much as blink, procceeding to explain what she could. Finally! Someone I will AT LEAST have a difficult time offending. Let's be honest. It happens far more than it should.

"Well, digimon are beings from a completely digital plane of existance. A digital world. We are composed of data, and are complex programs that -according to our ancestors- evolved from simple programs written by humans long, long ago. There have been gates open from the digital world to the human world before, and some digimon even found a way to break through the barrier and emerge into the human world without a gate. But all of that has ceased since the king was reprogrammed. I'd say our worlds haven't had contact in several hundred years."

Completely digital creatures eh? I wonder... could this world be...

"And no, I've traveled all different realms of the digital world. This is not part of it. Or at least it wasn't part of it before. Besides, there is no way off of this floating castle aside from going up and beating the top floor's soverign anyway, even if it was part of the digital world."

True. True.

So... to anwer her question...

"Yeah, I guess you could say its a digimon that's been programmed to work a certain way. The letters stand for Non-Player Character. They are usually only programmed to say certain things and offer services, but these seem... real. My guess is artificial intelligence. Something unheard of until now. I mean... aside from you, but I guess you evolved be like this. They were made directly."

She nodded, the way she does when she is proccessing information. Flipping it over and over I imagine, and working out how this affects her day-to-day routine. She was veeeerry analytical, but it was good. It was how she kept sharp.

Me?

I prefered to experience things firsthand and figure them out later.

I let that thought wander back into the abyssal maze of my mind, perhaps to emerge another day, choosing instead to double check my health bar. Its max had gone up considerably, and with the increased defense I'd be taking even less damage than normal.

Of course at this level you'd rather not take any at all.

The smallest of attacks from these creatures took far more percentage health out then you'd see at later levels. And as such, this would cause an unusually high death toll at the beginning of the game.

I blinked as the morbid thought didn't leave my head immediately, instead becoming even more clear.

A lot of people were dying right now. I knew roughly what I was doing, but what about those few that had no idea how video games worked? The ones who gave up?

Was I just abandoning these people to do my own thing?

I shook my head, dislodging such despondent thoughts and refocused.

No. I wasn't. I can't save anyone, and those who try are singled out from the crowd and abused. Scapegoats. They seem to know what's going on, and regardless that they are trying to help they are accused. I could almost hear the voices of the crowd.

'You knew!'

'It's all your fault!'

'Make him pay!'

A person is an intelligent, thoughtful, and empathetic being given most circumstances. People, however, are stupid, irrational, violent, and dangerous. Put a group of this size together and frighten the hell outa them?

There would be deaths from that alone.

And I didn't know any more than they did.

I would help along the way. That was the plan. Gather people who would stay by my side no matter what. Loyal friends. And protect them with all I had. Why I have to keep reminding myself of this was starting to bug me. I suppose with the threat of death all around, it helped to stay focused on your goals.

Stay focused.

Focused...

"HEY!"

I snapped out of my speil to see Rena eyeing me with those dazzling blue eyes of hers.

"Are you even listening?"

"Uh..."

An appropriate response, if I do say so myself.

"I SAID, are we going to go kill more monsters?"

I blinked, still coming to.

"You know. Grind on things."

"Grind on... OH! You mean go and do some grinding?"

She nodded emphatically, glad she at least partially was using the new terminology.

I laughed. "Sure! Sounds like a good plan to me."

As we walked back to the fields to clear out the closer monsters, my mind reinforced my strategy one last time.

_Try to make friends. Keep the loyal ones, the ones you can trust. And all the rest... save who you can. Nothing more, nothing less._

Little did I know that would come about a little sooner than expected.


	4. Chapter 4: The Boss

**Hey guys! Rena here. Sorry about this, but I wanted to get this chapter out as fast as I could. I spent a little time (while I'm writing my next chapter of course!) to give you the edited (and improved) version! This should clear up a lot, make it easier to read, and for god's sake remove those horrid grammar mistakes. *hangs head in shame* BUT! Enjoy! And be sure to leave a review!**

Chapter 4

"Well that could have gone better."

"Oh really? What part? Being slugged in the gut with that stupid thing's head? Or maybe taking a few claw marks to the face?" Rena spat, glaring at me.

I winced. "I said I was sorry."

She just sighed. "I know."

We had just made an attempt on a boss Amelia promised a heavy reward for, should we manage to kill it, and had failed miserably. I was keeping an eye on its patterns, but it wasn't til far, far later than i was hoping i spotted the repetitive movements that let me predict what it was doing. Rena suffered more than I did, being closer to it, depending on me to call out the patterns.

When she dipped to yellow I panicked and grabbed her by the waist and slashed at the thing, buying us a precious second to dart out of that cave as fast as my legs could carry me, angry fox in tow.

We both sat outside the cave, panting and sipping our health pots, Rena's tail flicking agitately back and forth, ears tucked against her head. I winced again, feeling guilty.

She had taken a lot of damage, dipped way to far into yellow... I knew it was my fault...

I had to fix this. A look of determination filled my eyes, and I looked over at Rena, putting up a fake smile.

"Hey Rena! Can you buzz into town and grab a couple more health pots? On me this time."

I passed her the col and she nodded, starting in the direction, not questioning me. Good. It would make this easier.

I turned on heel to the cave, hearing the sound of the infuriated monster pacing inside. A wolf. A massive one at that, noted as an alpha. Easily four times my size, packing quite a punch. I gripped my sword tighter as I strode back into the cave.

I hit the oepn area it called it's den, the beast turning to me, it's eyes flashing a burning red. A second health bar appeared below the first, notorizing its enormous health pool. I didn't care anymore. I was going to tear it to shreds.

"Hey! Fuzzball! I'm over here. Come and get me!"

It roared at me, starting one of its familiar patterns, one I easily recondized. It swept it's paw across the floor, trying to smash me against the wall. I leapt up, jumping over the paw, and the instant I landed I launched forward and sliced through him, leaving an orange gash in his shoulder. I leapt back, knowing that the wolf would launch forward with a short range snap of his jaws in response, keeping my eyes out for signs of his next attack.

He started pacing, almost staring right through me, a menacing growl vibrating in it's throat. My own face twisted into a snarl as I shifted my sword a little, taking a small step to the left. He immediately coiled and made a blind leap that took up the entire left side of the cave, paws outstretched, in an attempt to pin me. I rolled, smacking my shoulder against the other side of the cave in the process. I executed a skill to my left, ignoring my pain, slamming it hard into the stunnned wolf. He howled, 3/4 of his first HP bar gone, the rest looking like fair game.

We grappled for a few more minutes. I came out unscathed, and he was close to finished. When he hit below half of his last health bar however... He did something unexpected. He snarled, pacing again. But instead of leaping to the left or right, he dove straight at me. I just barely got out of the way in time. And I sure as hell didn't see him land, or pivot, or his bone crushing jaws exteneded out toward me. I felt him snap his jaws shut.

I howled in pain, my HP dropping steadily. With my free hand I cracked the butt end of my sword against his forehead, forcing the beast to drop me. I gripped my broken ribs, my hp almost in the yellow. A very pale shade of green anyway, reading a little over half.

I backed up, thinking quickly.

_He had changed his attack patterns. I didn't think bosses on floor one could even do that. What kind of sick bastard thows that kind of mechanic out at new players?_

_Of course, Kayaba did._

I grit my teeth, keeping my eyes locked on the alpha wolf. I needed to be vigilant if I wanted to avoid getting hammered to death. He was so close to dying, it would only take two more strikes to finish him. I could do this...

The alpha bellowed, snapping at me, giving me ample opportunity to dodge this time. I slashed at his exposed muzzle, dropping him well below the red, so close to being a mound of gold and XP I could taste it. I got eager, moving fast and trying to make a second slash at him. That's when he slammed his tail into me, sending my body flying into the wall, a sickening thud and cracked rock cascading around me. I had crashed hard, with little to no give in the rocky cave wall. My HP hit yellow, dropping me well below safe limits. It would only take a lovetap from this beast to end me.

End my life.

I had needlessly challenged this thing to satisfy my own stupid pride. To try and ease my guilt for letting Rena take the fall for my mistakes with every, single, once, I din't have any way out, no plans, no strategies. And Rena would be miles away by now.

I was going to die here.

It took everything I had just to grip my sword, which was imbedded in the ground by my side. I struggled to stand, a gutteral growl coming from the massive canine, already circling me like a dead animal. I might as well have been. Even with the body mods, I felt racked with pain and bruises, barely able to stand. But, gathering all the strength I had, I drew my sword from the ground with a war cry, facing the beast one last time.

It was him or me. He lunged, and with a howl I dashed forward, holding my sword straight up. Dropping to a kneeling position, I gripped it tightly and grit my teeth, bracing myself for what i knew was coming. Too late the wolf realized what was happening, and gravity brought the grusome creature crashing down on top of me, impaling it straight through. The weight of the wolf crushed me, dropping me into the red, leaving me gasping for air underneath him. The creature struggled with its last breaths, its HP all but gone, slowly dwindling lower and lower. My HP quickly followed suit, and I knew that it wouldn't be enough. He wasn't dying fast enough...

I was going to die with it.

With a sigh of resignation, I closed my eyes and braced for the end.

All of a sudden the carcass was hurled off of me, swung wildly by the tail in a circle and smashed into the back of the cave, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

Rena stood over me, pressing a bottle to my lips, her arm lifting my battered torso up so I could swallow... whatever it was she had. I couldn't make it out, my vision was blurred, my body weak. I didn't fight her.

I felt my strength return, the now identified health pot bringing me back, restoring my HP, numbing the pain, and healing most of my bruises. I pulled myself to a sitting position against the wall of the cave, looking into the eyes of a very worried Renamon.

I blinked in surprise. Since when did she get worried about me? I gave a weak smile.

"Hey Ren... sorry about that... I felt really bad about making you suffer like that while I bumbled around like an idiot trying to fight this thing earlier. I didn't want you feeling like I was dead weight... so I tried to take him on myself... " I winced, feeling the soreness still remain, flexing my arm. "S-sorry..."

She shook her head, wrapping me in a hug, completely and utterly catching me off guard. I hesitantly returned the gesture, pulling her close and resting my head on her shoulder.

Her voice shook a little. "I-I thought I lost you. I came back and you weren't at the entrance. I looked everywhere and still couldn't find you when I heard the fighting coming from inside the cave. I came in and all I saw was the wolf on the ground. I didn't see you anywhere. I thought I lost you... I thought I lost you..."

She shook a little, a massive display of emotion from the usually stoic fox. I pulled her closer, hoping to steady her, reassure her.

"Rena... Rena its ok... I'm here. I'm alive. I'm so sorry... Its alright. I'm not going to do anything like that ever again. I'm not going anywhere."

She calmed a little, resting her head against my shoulder, letting out a soft sigh. This was really uncharacteristic of her. If this is what it took to get her out of her shell, God help me.

"Don't you EVER do that again, do you hear me Justin?!" She pulled back, looking me in the eye with a mixture of anger and worry, holding me by the shoulders. I gulped and nodded.

"I promise."

She nodded back, taking in our close proximity and blushed a little under her fur, standing and offering a paw to me. I took it after a moment, climbing to my feet. I gave a glance to my stat screen, showing my solo kill of the boss, doubling the XP and col bonuses, and registering a completed quest objective. With a slight smile i dismissed the menu.

"If i didn't know better Rena, I'd say you were worried about me..."

I smiled, turning so she couldn't read my expression. She was silent, eyebrow quirked and tail flicking a little.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you had a death wish. Either that or you just wanted to prove yourself to me for some stupid reason..."

I gulped. She had me there. I had felt pretty useless these past couple weeks. Once she had learned the basics she had easily outclassed me in every way, from the basic sword lessons we had been taking together to mob grinding, finishing quests, even mastering sword skills. I had been a lag on her for a while now, and this had been the last straw.

I decided to own up to it.

"Yeah..." I said with a sigh, stopping to face her again. "I just feel like you would accomplish so much more without me. I feel like I've just been holding you back. To be honest, our partnership has long outlasted the shaky truce we started on, and I'm more than a little worried you were just going to up and leave..."

She looked at me with that unreadable expression, her tail ceasing its frustrated twitching. I waited for a reply, the silence starting to stretch. The cynnical side of me told me she would just agree and split off right then and there.

Instead she just smiled. "You really don't know anything about digimon, do you?"

I froze in place, completely dumbfounded.

She folded her arms and continued. "A digimon never leaves their partner. Ever. Renamon especially are loyal to their partners, and are bound by a certain code of honor. Even without a digivice, I still consider you my partner. And I won't leave, simply because you are having some difficulty. I would most likely be dead if it wasn't for your advice, patiently teaching me all the rules and the language of these... games. And I find it insulting you don't have more faith in me, Justin."

I gawked at her, open mouthed and completely stunned. "I-I... I'm sorry... I'm honored, to have you as a partner, Rena. And if I dare to say so, as a friend."

She just smiled, walking out of the cave, leaving me to stumble after, grinning like an idiot.

We made our way back to the village, stepping inside Amelia's shop. It had grown quite a bit since our employment, and with all the extra attention it had pretty much put her competitor out of business. He had moved across town to a more sparesly populated area to sell his wares, cursing and swearing all the way.

Meanwhile Amelia had been giving quite generously to the two of us, everything from col to quests to free items. We had benefited mutually, having swelled her business, and having swelled our pockets. We were even able to afford two rooms in the hotel, but after just one night of it Rena knocked on my door at 3 in the morning, eyes rimmed with red, completely unable to sleep. I was in similar straights, and without a word we crawled in the bed and both immediately passed out. Needless to say we missed grinding the next morning, and haven't slept separate since.

Besides, it saves money.

"Helllloooo Amelia!" I smiled at her as we made our way over, the small shop bustling with customers. She grinned back at me and waved us over.

"Hey you two! Come here! How did it go? That nasty wolf give you a run for your money? I can get you restocked on potions and fix up those weapons of yours in no time so you can get cracking on it again."

I just popped a trade request, seating the collosal wolf pelt inside, slightly smug as she gawked at her menu.

"W-What?"

I grinned wider.

"You managed to bag it? I thought it would at least take you two tries!"

Rena chimed in. "Yeah. It did take two tries, but he soloed it without so much as a potion."

She dropped the bag she had been carrying.

"You did WHAT?!"

I nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck, every NPC and player looking our way. Most of them were far from capable of even challenging the beast, much or less beating it solo.

"I almost died in the process. Rena came in just in time to save me, tossing the stupid thing's carcass off my chest so I could breathe. She gets the credit there."

Amelia declined the trade request, opening her menu and finishing our quests. I gave her a strange look, accepting the massive amount of col and XP, and various items along with it.

"What did you do that for?"

"How much you want for the pelt?"

"Nothing! It was part of the job agreement."

"No, you risked your life to bring that thing back to me, I can't accept another player's blood. You deserve that thing. If you want to sell it, I'm buying."

I just shook my head, at a loss for words. Rena spoke up, negotiating a deal. After a moment the two had settled on a price, and I handed the very expensive and rather luxurious pelt to her in exchange for a large chunk of col, splitting it evenly between me and Rena.

Amelia admired the coat, pinning it up to the wall behind her."Two thousand col, as we agreed. Thank you very much, you two. That's all I got for today, I'll have my hands full prepping this thing for sale. Go, take the rest of the day, get some dinner. As a matter of fact, there is a nice resturaunt two blocks down and on the left, bordering the lake. Tell them Amelia sent you, they should get you good seats and their best waiter. Consider it my present to you two. Every couple needs some alone time."

We both stopped in our tracks, speaking in unision.

"COUPLE?"

She looked from me to Rena, a confused look on her face.

"With the way you two are? You're never separate. I've seen you two in the same hotel room, clearing monsters together, taking the same sword lessons, joking and bantering like you two do, hell you even save each other's lives. I just assumed you were a couple..."

We just turned to each other, completely speechless, blushed very deeply, and left, not saying a word. Some things you just don't gratify with a response.

"Well goodbye and goodnight to you too..." She muttered, smiling over at her next customer. "What can I do ya for?"

When we got back to the inn, we just stared at each other, taking turns blushing madly and looking away. It was a far cry from our usual selves.

See, Rena was more amicable now, showing at least a little emotion from day to day. I had adjusted to her personality and habits, much the same way she had adjusted to mine. We were getting along well, slowly teaching each other about our cultures, our likes and dislikes, giving each other tips on gaming or surviving, or helping each other with sword practice. We had become rather good friends, despite the species and gender separation.

Which was now apparently an issue.

Having about enough of the awkward silence, I swallowed the lump in my throat and spoke hesitantly.

"W-well... do you want to go and get some dinner?"

She just nodded, receding back to that stoic renamon I had become all too familiar with. Damn it. This was going to take some doing to fix. I sighed, deciding that the unconventional approach had worked so far. So...

I got up from my seat on the bed and strode over to the fox. She eyed my every move with calculated precision. Giving a slight flourish, I bowed and offered my arm like a gentleman. She looked from the arm to my eyes, eyebrows raised. I had caught her attention.

"Well? Shall we, milady? It's just dinner, its not like we are on a date or anything. I don't even know how that works in digimon culture. So its just friends out together. We shouldn't let a comment like that throw us off this badly. Unless... you're just scared to go on a date with me, fox..." I said with a wink at her.

She finally smiled and took my arm, playing along with the act. "But of course. I'm not afraid of a little date with my good friend. Come now, I'm not that kind of Renamon. It'll take a little more than a cheap dinner to get me to go for a strange charmer like you, human."

We both just laughed and joked about it, walking arm in arm all the way to the resturaunt. Much to our surprise, they really did give us the best table, a view out on the lake and a very attentive waiter once we dropped Amelia's name. In short order our food was ordered and served, and despite a few odd stares the evening went on normally. We just enjoyed each other's company, talking and joking and planning the next day or so. Eventually we wrapped things up and made our way back to the hotel again. We checked back into our room, slipping back under the covers, drifting off to rest, another long and eventful day down.

**Well... Hi!**

**Yes... It HAS been a while. I had a family trip that gave me a few hours and I finally wiped my laptop so I could write the only way my ideas flow properly without me passing out, which is on a keyboard. And i finally churned out something I felt you, as devoted readers (you have to be, to keep reading this story) deserve! I promise another chapter for my return home, and I hope this will kick me back up into a routine of posting again. I will be posting a zootopia fic I have been nursing as well, having a deep love for both Nick and Judy. If you haven't seen the movie... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? Go see it. It's amazing. As for this and my other stories, expect more. Pray for more. Pm me for more. Review for more. I promise not to let you all down! **

**RenamonRoxx Out!**


	5. The Stranger

**Greetings readers! I know it's taken a while since my last update, but I tell you in all truthfulness I have worked on it every night since my last update. I work 3 jobs... they take up a lot of time. I get this at night, and often times wake up around 5:30 finding I have passed out writing. But! Nonetheless. I have written, edited, and painstakingly maneuvered this piece here, just for you. Enjoy! I'll get the next chapter out as soon as I can. **

**Rock on, and stay frosty! And of course... review! :D**

Chapter 5

While Rena and Justin were fighting wolves and breaking down walls, somewhere back just outside the town, another player sat in the grass, scribbling away in a notebook. At 18 years old with an athletic build split between strong legwork and quick and strong upper body, he had short brown hair, brown eyes, was white but with a fair tan. Dressed in a leather breastplate, earthen colors and a white dire wolf tippet, he seemed to almost blend into the landscape as he worked, taking various notes into his worn, leather-bound notebook. Next to him lay a dark brown cloak, cast aside once out of view of any players from the town.

He preferred the peace of the outer city limits to do his work, scribbling this and that, taking notes in the journal. Not to say he minded being around people. It was just... calmer. Easier to write.

Having finished his work, and satisfied with the current contents of the book, he closed it, tucking it neatly away in his inventory. Picking up the cloak, he donned it as he made his way back to the main village, weaving around various people and NPCs, making his way to a budding shop in the village, quickly rising in popularity and wares. He ducked into the building, heading straight to the shelf in the back. Frowning when he didn't see the item he was searching for right away, he started perusing the shelves, smiling when he finally spotted the leaves of paper and ink pens available, pulling a few of each from the shelves. He was well absorbed in his thoughts as he made his way up to the counter when he heard something that caught his attention.

"Yeah. It did, but he soloed it without so much as a potion."

He tuned into the conversation, taking a look at the player in question. He didn't seem all that unusual. But these type of players had a tendancy to surprise you. He could have sworn they were referring to a wolf boss. Alpha, if he was right. He had stumbled into the den a while back, taking a mental picture as he got out of dodge. He had jotted the creature down in his journal with its health and anything else he could remember, as well as a rough sketch of the thing. He wanted to remember where it was so he could challenge it when he was ready.

Hearing that this other player had beaten it solo, much or less without any healing whatsoever, had caught his attention.

"I almost died, don't worry. Poor Rena came in just in time to save me, tossing the stupid thing's carcass off my chest so I could breathe. She gets the credit there."

He took a peak at the creature beside him, noting its traditionally stoic nature. He had seen a few of its kind around as well. They tended to avoid people of any kind, even other... what was the word?

He struggled for a moment, trying to recall.

Digimon! That's it. Even other digimon.

Very little emotion at all with those foxes.

This one seemed a little different, however. Especially at the comments about them being a couple. He chuckled to himself, knowing well the shopkeeper's sense of humor. They left without another word, and he just shook his head, approaching the vendor.

"Well goodbye and goodnight to you too..." She muttered, smiling over at her him. "What can I do ya for?"

"Hey, just the usual Amelia. Say, who were those two that just left?"

"Paper and pens and all the scrap weapons I have on hand, coming right up. And those two? My two star employees who put me on the map. Dragon and Rena. Why do ya ask?"

As she bustled around behind the counter, readying his order, the player just leaned on the counter, watching the two as they made their way home.

"Just a little curious is all."

Inwardly, gears were turning in his mind, calculating and thinking.

_They might be just what i'm looking for..._

The next morning, we woke from the bed, much the same way we always do.

"I swear, I'm not doing this intentionally." I said, holding my stinging cheek.

"That's the third time you've put your hands on me while I was sleeping." Rena replied, arms crossed and tail twitching behind her. Her words carried little sting though, she wasn't really upset at the accidental gesture. Not to say she was comfortable waking up with his hands wrapped around her waist. She would far rather he keep to his side of the bed, and his hands to himself. But she wasn't really upset at all.

"I said I was sorry! God you have one heck of a swing. I've never been slapped that hard..."

"Then you might want to learn to stay to your side of the bed."

I just grabbed some ice, resting it on the new set of claw marks, sighing to myself. I was a very anxious and nervous sleeper. I tended to shift the sheets, blanket, and pillow all around the bed. I woke up in some strange positions. But since I had started sleeping with Rena, that had gone away. Replaced by resting myself against the sleeping Renamon, one way or another.

Usually it wasn't this bad.

I grumbled down to the lobby, grabbing breakfast and hauling it back up to the kitsune, a little tradtion we had gotten accustomed to. Meanwhile Rena was thinking hard on the events of last night and their unusual mornings.

_Why does he always end up next to me? It's like he is doing it on purpose just to embarrass me! It has to be. Why else would he do that? I mean... its not like he is trying to get his hands on me. We aren't even the same species. He doesn't find me attractive._

_Right?_

_He couldn't..._

_Woudn't..._

_Could he...?_

_I mean... last night did SEEM a little more than friendly. He was just joking when he called it a date though... right? I mean I do tend to block out my emotions, especially when i'm embarrassed, and he doesn't like that at all. He was just drawing me out like he awlays does. Yeah... _

Her internal self assurances were interrupted by the door swinging opening as I came back in from the lobby. The claw marks she had left on my face were starting to fade, and I had a full breakfast trey balanced carefully in hand as I made my way to the table.

"Hey, I got you your favorite. Orange juice, Oatmeal, and a crud ton of bacon. Sorry about the sleeping thing again... I honestly don't know why that keeps happening. You might just have to cuff me in my sleep."

Rena just chuckled, digging into her food with me quickly following suit, both of us managing to keep light conversation around mouthfuls. That is, until there was a knock on our door. Neither of us were expecting any company. Glancing back at Rena, I grabbed one of the lighter swords from my inventory, brandishing it as I walked slowly to the door. I took a peek through the hole, not recognizing who it was. Not wanting to give a terible impression, I hid my sword gripped in hand behind the door and opened it a crack, eyeing the morning intruder.

"Hello?" I said abruptly.

"Hey! I'm sorry to intrude, I spoke with the manager downstairs and he told me I would find you two here. I hate to interupt your breakfast, but I was afraid I wouldn't catch you before you left."

I gave him a once over and glanced back to Rena. She didn't seem too tense, so after a little deliberation I opened the door and sheathed my sword.

"Name's Dragon. This is Rena. What's your business?"

I wasn't exactly super friendly with people I didn't know that approached me. Especially during breakfast.

He surprised me though and smiled, reaching into his bag and pulling out a small, worn leather notebook, flipping through the pages.

"I'm here because I need your help. That is, if you are the one that soloed this..." The stranger said, showing me a picture -almost perfectly sketched- of the Alpha Wolf I had beaten yesterday. He even had a close approximation of its health, and details about where the den was. I was impressed.

"Yeah, that was us."

"You," Rena corrected.

He grinned even wider, offering a hand.

"My name's Russ. And I've got a job for you two."

I met the handshake, a little more at ease. "Oh! So that's what this is about. Ok. Well, you want to come on in? We have a little breakfast if you're interested."

"No thanks."

He pulled out a seat, and I retook my place at the table, chowing down on the rest of my meal while he laid out the details.

"You see, I've been trying to get my hands on a particular item I need, and I'm afraid I can't tell you more than that. The only quest that gives this particular item has an unusually high level of difficulty, so I'm in need of very capable players to help me complete it. I'll make sure you are well compensated for your efforts."

_Wow. Could you be more vague? _I thought to myself. I glanced back at Rena again. Her icy blue eyes just peirced right through me, reading no emotion whatsoever. I turned back to the stranger, scratching my chin.

"Well... Amelia doesn't have any quests up for us today. It beats grinding. I say we go for it. Rena? What's your vote?"

She just nodded, turning her gaze from me to Russ. I was surprised. Most people cringed, averted their gaze, or glared back at her whenever she used that piercing, icy stare of hers. But this gentlemen didn't even blink. Just stared right back with a polite, warm smile.

As cryptic as he was being about everything, he seemed to have his reasons and I usually wasn't one to question or prod. I shook his hand, grinning broadly.

"Sure! You have yourself a deal. But I warn you, me and my partner don't take well to being swindled. I highly reccomend you not do that. For your saftey."

Russ simply laughed and nodded. "Noted. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to get rolling," He said with a gesture at the door. "This isn't exactly a time sensitive quest, but I have been waiting a good long while for the right players so I can complete it."

I nodded, gesturing to the remains of our breakfast. "Well we are in no rush, I hate to tell you. If you could sit for a minute and relax, we'll be finished soon."

He nodded and took a seat outside in the hallway for some reason. I didn't mind. He may be a bit odd, but it sounded like this quest was going to pay well, so it would be worth it in the end. I looked back to Rena, her irises burning holes in me. I startled a little.

"Hey! Ahem, so... what do you think... really?"

She stayed silent a few moments longer. I let my question hang, patiently waiting for the reply. I found out long ago that repeating your question only served to frustrate the calculative fox. If she wanted time to think, you best give her time to think. I knew she'd reply when she was ready.

Finally she broke the calm silence with two words.

"He's dangerous."

I swallowed hard in surprise, taking a moment to study the Renamon. Usually her expression came out more physical than verbal. You could tell more of what she was thinking by her face, in the rare times it showed emotion, than what she said.

She was staring out at the open doorframe, concern scrawled across her features. She felt something about him was off. I didn't blame her, I felt it too. Something about him, the way he walked, talked, carried himself. Something was amiss, and neither of us could put a finger on it.

But nonetheless, she let her concern fade, replaced with a shrug as she finished her plate, chewing thoughtfully, speaking in between bites. "But I feel like we are going to neeed whatever he has to offer."

I nodded, taking our plates and placing them in the sink, dropping a few col tip for the maid. "Well, we'll find out soon enough. Let's get a move on, we're losing daylight."

In short order we had left the hotel, following Mr. Russ. For how young he looked, he sure took things seriously. Me and Rena conversed like we usually did.

"What do you mean I owe you twenty col?" I said, jaw dropped.

"I bought potions last, and when you 'covered me' for them you only gave me 4 back when I had bought five." Rena stated back flatly.

"That's because last time I did it you only handed ME four! I had bought five! You don't see me complaining."

"Complaining won't do you any good, you will still owe me twenty col."

"Oh yeah?! Well..."

At this point Russ had tuned us out, heaving an internal sigh at his associates. He prayed this was the right decision in bringing them along. God knows he couldn't risk bringing in two newbies to help him here. He would've prefered not to bring anyone at all, but this quest item was by far and away the most important thing he'd gotten so far. It boggled his mind how the quest system had even known about...

"Helllooooooo? Have you even been listening?"

"Uh..."

I laughed, giving him a light nudge in the shoulder.

"I ASKED what exactly this quest is about. Seeing as we are already in it, I could use a few details."

He shrugged. "Its on a need-to-know basis. I don't want any info brokers hassling me for details on the quest."

I shrugged in return, turning around. "Well, best of luck then." I started back to the village, fully intent on leaving him to finish on his own. Rena simply followed me, not even looking back over her shoulder.

He stopped in his tracks, gawking at me. "HEY! Where are you going?"

I didn't even look back. "Back to town. I'm not risking my neck by running in blind just because you don't want a little hassle. Besides, I'm not into info trading with those greedy brokers."

Info brokers gathered useful quest, mob, skill, and item info, offering it back to players. With a price of course. They usually liked to hunt down front-line players and frustrate them for tips in exchange for other info or money.

He sighed externally this time, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Fine! Just... can we keep moving? What do you want to know?"

He wasn't going to give up information he didn't have to.

"What is required for quest completion? And what monsters are we likely to fight? Relative level? What do we get out of this quest? Aaaand what are you getting out of this quest?"

I fired them back to back, folding my arms across my chest as I walked back towards him, resuming our trek to god knows where. He took his time in replying. Probably trying to keep as much information hidden as possible.

"First off, we need to obtain 20 item drops. Dragonet wings they're called. Second, we need to eliminate 25 juvenile dragons. Then we need to beat their boss, a full grown dragon. He's supposedly the nest guard."

He pulled out his notebook, paging through and showed us what each of the respective dragons looked like. The health on the final boss was easily twice what the alpha wolf's was, and he looked far harder to deal with, but I wasn't concerned. With Rena here, we could easily take it.

Yeah.

I took in the information, shrugging. "Doesn't sound so bad. Why do you need us again?"

"That final boss? He's far tougher than that wolf you guys fought. I can't even begin to solo him, even given a few more weeks of prep. I need this quest to be completed as soon as possible. And no matter how much you may prod or threaten to leave, I will NOT tell you why. In any case, we are here."

I shrugged again. So be it. I looked around for a sign we had done anything more than just stopped in the middle of nowhere, but found none. No landmarks, no spawn points, nothing. Just your average path around the mountains.

Russ looked over his shoulder, as if thinking we were followed, and ducked under a small alcove that I had missed. It was easy to lose, it was hardly even visable and we were standing right on top of it. How this guy managed to find it was a mystery to me.

I was starting to get more and more antsy about our employment. This quest was not only taboo, it was well hidden, had a high difficulty set of requirements, and pit us against a very protective and angry dragon boss. I was beginning to think this might have been a mistake, but it was too late to back out now. This guy seemed desperate, and might do something stupid if we just up and left. Like try to solo the thing. Or try to kill us.

Rena apparently had no problem finding the alcove well after Russ had yanked me into it. Her vision has to be crazy good to catch that. As we moved further and further into the cave this small alcove had turned into, it kept widening and widening until finally we hit a wide clearing. It was full of grass, trees, lots of rocks big and small, and...

Dragons. Lots and lots of dragons.

Most of them were tiny, like the size of a housecat. Some were feathered, some were furred, others had leathery skin, and still others had scales. Red, yellow, blue, green, purple, you name the color there was a dragon with it. The bigger ones tended to be just the scaled ones, ranging in size from a medium sized dog to a large horse. And to top off the scene...

Every.

Single.

One.

Had a red cursor.

Every single dragon would attack on sight.

And right now there were at least a dozen eyes locked on us.

I gulped and reached around behind me, gripping my blade. Russ drew his sword. Rena took a defensive stance, her paw wrapped firmly around her own weapon.

And then all three of us let loose a war cry, charging in.

Three of the dragonets screeched and dashed at my head, forcing me to slice through them. They disappated in a cloud of shards, dropping an item on the ground. I took another swing at one of the juveniles that had taken an interest in trying to break my arm, picking the item up and stuffing it into my inventory. Rena had two of the juveniles on her, and Russ was currently locked in a swarm of the dragonets.

I sidestepped my dragon's swipes and hacked away at it, executing a dash through the beast. He fell to the side, shattering, freeing me up to stab through one of the ones Rena was trying to keep at bay, holding it in its place until it shattered too.

Suddenly the swarm of dragonets moved from Russ to me, seeing a far more dangerous target, and immediately reduced me to slicing and cursing at the air as they nipped away at my health. I growled and screamed to Rena and Russ.

"On three, JUMP AS HIGH AS YOU CAN!"

I prepped my sword, hunching my head down between my shoulders to protect from the hoarde of tiny, winged monsters.

"ONE."

They sheathed their swords, evading the dragons that were hounding them.

"TWO."

With a swift kick Rena knocked them both away, and grabbed Russ by the waist.

"THREE!"

She sprung up as hard as she could, putting them well above me and put them out of harms way. With both of them clear, I loaded up my new skill, a deep growl bubbling unbidden from my throat.

"Dragon's Whirlwind!"

With speed no human could muster and my arms and sword extended, I spun like a hurricane sending massive blades of energy out that radiated in a spiral from me in all directions, dealing massive damage to anything in their path. The attack immediately shredded the cloud of dragonets, and destroyed the two juveniles Rena had kicked my way. The shockwave was enough to strip most of the dragons around me of a good chunk of their health, slamming them well away. As soon as the attack ended, I felt out of breath and exhausted, sword dropping to my side as I tried to recover.

Rena and Russ dropped back down, hacking at the few who tried to take advantage of my weakened state and finished off the injured ones from my whirlwind. I drank a health pot, recovering my HP and prayed it did the same for my stamina. I drug my sword back up to a defensive stance, feeling my strength return again. I gave the remaining dragons a wicked grin.

And just like that they all scattered, darting away into the numerous crevasses and cave entrances that dotted the area. I scoweled, my fun somewhat ruined.

"Well... ok. Now what?" I asked him blatently.

Russ checked his quest list. "Well, it seems we, or should I say, YOU eliminated all the juveniles we needed... and when we stopped to pick up the quest items we had more than plenty for turning in. Which only leaves..."

He was interrupted by an earth shattering roar up above us. Like death from above it blocked out the sun with its shadow, descending with powerful beats from its wings. It was enormous, easily twice as big as the wolf, standing about three times our size in height. Scales on top of scales gave it a protective layer of armor. It had five wickedly sharp and curved claws protruding from each of its four feet attatched to powerful, muscled legs. A long, sturdy neck, thick and powerful tail, a maw full of teeth, and a crown of sharpened horns defined this as one of the most powerful things we had yet to see in this game.

It landed, shaking the ground beneath our feet, and it roared again, its blood red eyes focused on us. The sound alone was enough to send grown men running, much or less the piercing, evil gaze. But I stood fast, a snarl forming on my lips as I regarded the boss, taking in the impressiveness of the beast. Four HP bars filled next to it, his title emblazoned above his head:

Dragon's Nest Guardian

I gripped my sword tightly, watching the dragon carefully. Russ drew his sword, drawing slowly up to my left side, while Rena stood by my right. I grinned wickedly. I shifted to a defensive stance, feeling a shiver of excitement despite the danger. Well... actually it probably WAS the danger. Living like this... On the edge every time you stepped outside a city gate; you ran around facing these enormous, terrifying monsters; you feel yourself getting stronger and stronger, ready to take on anything. The more dangerous the baddies, the more dangerous the fights, and the promise of better rewards... The higher the risk became, the better it felt. I don't know what Kayaba's intent was, nor do I condone any of his actions. But I have to admit... this world was addicting. It gives you a thrill like you could never even imagine.

Especially with the chance of real death on the table.

And I was starting to love it.

Pushing those thoughts aside I focused on the massive dragon looming in front of me. It let loose a low roar, slamming a claw down on where I had been just a moment ago as I quickly dodged the swipe. I took advantage of his overextended arm and slammed my sword into it, dropping a small bit off the top bar.

With a short roar of pain it slammed one of its wings down, forcing us all to roll out of the way. It bellowed again and charged at me, lowering its head to face me with the massive spikes that protruded from his skull. I swiftly sidestepped it as it narrowly passed me by, giving a moment of opportunity to slice through the beast clean. I chipped another small piece off its health bar, making it howl in pain.

Seeing as how my weapon was doing little to no damage to this thing, I grit my teeth and dug in my heels, bracing myself. It was going to be a long day.

We fought long and hard, going through bottle after bottle of health pots. Rena and Russ were wearing down, their attacks slowing bit by bit, their dodges getting sloppier. I suffered a large gash in my shoulder, making movement with that arm much more difficult. I could have patched it with a status heal, but it would go away at the end of the fight. And status heals were hella expensive, given their need.

I rolled away from another swipe at me from the dragon, giving me an opportunity to slice him back in retailation. It had been over an hour of trading blows, dodging claws and teeth and wings. The beast was finally beginning to wear down. It was on its last bar, a good portion of it already missing. Every attack from it was met by a counter, and any damage done was recovered by our potions. However we were down to just one health pot left for the three of us, and it was getting more and more agressive in its attacks and more and more difficult to dodge and counter. I narrowly missed a snap of its jaws, diving to the side. This gave Russ the break he needed to slice through the exposed maw, slamming out a good chunk of health from the dragon. It dropped into the red, starting to blink.

And that's when he stopped attacking.

He just stood back, panting heavily, his hot breath scorching the grass below, causing it to curl and blacken. He hadn't done anything like this since we started fighting, and it made all of us nervous. We watched him carefully, seeing what he would do next. I already knew these things could change attack patterns. God knows what else they're capable of. Sometimes this isn't like a game. You have to treat it like real life otherwise you'll end up dead.

It just stood there, panting away, growling at us. Its red, bloodshot eyes moved from person to person, as if judging us. I invoulentarily shuddered, trying to shake off my nagging feeling. I knew something was about to go horribly wrong.

Looking to my teammates, both of them panting and exhausted, I decided that if anyone would move any closer to this thing it would be me. I sidled forward, keeping an eye on the beast. Its gaze snapped to me, growl deepening. It retreated a step. I took another step forward, it retreated another. Step, retreat. Step, retreat. Step, retreat.

I started running at it, sword at the ready as it cut sharply through the air behind me, tightly held in my grip. I howled at the Guardian, preparing to jump and slam it through its head and down the neck, pass right through the chest and finish out with a twist of the blade. But what happened next I could never have seen coming. It charged right back at me, roaring in kind, and the closer and closer we drew, the more and more of a sick feeling I got. Right as we were about to clash the dragon spread its wings and leapt over me, landing behind us. I whipped around as fast as I could, seeing It sweep its tail forward, the sharp trident dashing forward like snake.

With the sickening sound of blade through flesh and breaking bones, he pierced Russ straight through the chest, impaling him.

Rena darted towards him to try and free Russ, but the creature just batted her away with a wing, slamming her against the far wall. With what could be perceived as a grin, the dragon turned back to me, bringing the tip of his tail up next to its head, displying his prize. Russ gasped for air, blood gushing from his wounds, his health draining unnaturally fast. I had to move, and quick. With a scream that wiped the smile off of its smug face, even making it retreat just one last step, I charged the dragon with everything I had. I leapt upwards, ramming my sword clean through the neck near its head before it could even lift a claw. I used gravity as I fell to drag it all the way down the creature's long, thick neck. I left the sword where it had stopped, imbedded in its chest, protruding right about where one would expect its heart would be. I stepped back calmly, just narrowly clearing it as the dragon collapsed, head collapsing right at my feet.

I quickly pulled the last health pot out of my inventory and grabbed Russ, quickly but carefully separating him from the spiked tail. As quickly as I could, I poured the pot down his throat, coaxing him to swallow. His HP was near gone, and still diminishing as the bleeding effect continued. The health pot slowly healed his wounds, the bleeding slowing but not stopping. It hadn't started to reverse it yet. It slowed down more and more, Russ still inching closer and closer to death. I scoured my inventory, searching for anything at all to help. A plant, food, water, potions, ANYTHING. I knew the pot wouldn't be enough to save him.

He started coughing, clutching at his chest as his HP continued to drop. Lower and lower, down it went. His wounds were almost healed, but the pot was almost spent. Rena staggered closer, holding her head, probably dizzy. A faraway part of my brain told me she probably had a concussion, but she was determined to reach us. With what little strength she had left, she extended her paws, suddenly igniting with a bright blue, translucent fire. She pressed both paws to the worst of his wounds, her fire slowly pouring down into the gashes. He gasped at first, letting it out in a long, relieved sigh. At last, his HP decline ground to a halt, ending the slow ticking away of his life. It began to climb back up into yellow and I let out a sigh of relief, right before Rena passed out. Her HP was down in the yellow as well, probably with a fair amount of terrible status effects.

I let them rest, collapsing into the grass with an exhasperated sigh. I dismissed the last hit menu and pulled my sword out of the ground where the dragon had dissappated. Remembering the other dragons that had scattered at the Guardian's landing, I scanned my surroundings, looking for signs of trouble.

All the dragons were returning, but they weren't agressive anymore. All of them turned to neutral. They began moving about the valley normally, playing or sleeping or splashing in the ponds under the waterfalls. I smiled, the peaceful scene taking me away from the near disaster just moments before. The dragons and dragonets seemed almost pleasant now, perfectly content to leave me be or even display a small amount of curiosity about their bipedal visitor. I concluded that the Guardian must have been exuding some kind of negative influence on the normally inquisitive creatures, and with him gone they were free to do as they pleased again.

One of the little dragonets walked closer to me, sniffing at my boot. I immediately felt a twang of guilt for killing so many of them, even if they were in a swarm trying to kill me before. I smiled softly, offering the back of my hand. It drew a little closer, sniffing it then looked up to me. To my surprise it started to climb my arm, perching on my shoulder, curling its tail around the back of my neck like an anchor, and stayed there.

I just shifted a little to let it get more comfortable, not minding a bit, and turned back to my two, poor, injured teammates. I set about doing what I could to make them as comfortable as possible given the circumstances. I put down some leaves as padding, pulling them both out of the open and into one of the corners of the valley. The rocks near us seemed to radiate with warmth, whether from the sun baking them or something to do with the dragons I didn't know. It was comfy, though. Leaving them there, I searched the valley, finding a few helpful things here and there, keeping an eye on Russ and Rena for when they woke.

Feeling satisfied with my work I retook my seat next to my companions, taking out a granola bar from my inventory. They were both slowly starting to stir, followed by a series of audible groans.

"Good morning sleepyheads. Hope you're both feeling better." I chuckled, taking a bite.

Russ slowly sat up, rubbing his temples. "I feel like I just went through hell, but it beats dying I guess... ugh..."

Rena adjusted a little quicker, leaning against the warming rocks, being a little less worse for the wear. She pulled her knees up against her chest and curled her tail around her ankles. "I am fine as well."

Her gaze fixated on my shoulder, and when I looked on my left my gaze I was met by a small set of curious eyes fixed on what I was eating. The dragonet's nose twitched a little. I had completely forgot it was still there. I broke a bit off my bar and gave it to the reptile, which it readily accepted and nibbled happily away at. Finishing its morsel, it stretched out almost peacefully, nuzzling its head into my neck. It's nametag turned green, and a small menu popped up, congratulating me on my new familiar.

Curious, I opened the guidebook and flipped to the page dealing with familiars. After a few minutes of reading, I ascertained that a familiar was when a neutral mob had been influenced enough by you to submit itself to your commnd. It became known as a familiar, and there was a wide variety of things you were able to do to them and with them, ranging from riding them to naming them to teaching them their own skills. You could identify a familiar by the green nametag above their heads, and a bright blue nametag for another player's familiar. When the nametag first turns green, you could tap on it like an icon and it would allow you to name your familiar, albeit only once. It would respond to that name from now on.

I thought to myself for moment, tickling under the neck of the adorable little scaly creature. After checking the gender, I opted for the name: Athena. The cute little dragoness purred with her new name, curling comfortably around my shoulders. I turned back to Rena and shrugged, a huge grin on my face.

She just shook her head, reaching for the crate of fruit I'd gathered from around the valley. It wasn't much, but it would get all of us topped off for health, provided we rest a little longer. The three of us ate in silence, all thinking about what had just happened. Russ had nearly died, and Rena had expended everything she had just to save him. Apparently she had a low level healing, whether by skill or naturally I didn't know. I observed her silently, watching her expressions as she was lost in her thought. Truth be told, I was glad to have her as a partner, and as a friend. She had my back, regardless of how bad things got. And that was something I desperately needed.

Russ paused in his eating, making eye contact with me first, and then Rena.

"You both saved my life."

I shrugged. "Nothing you wouldn't have done for us. Protect who you can."

Rena just nodded, affirming my statement. She was against helping others at first, but after a few trips into the field and seeing how much people appreciated the help, she grew into my philosiphy well. It suited her.

Russ just shook his head. "I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I'd like to join you two. You show a lot of promise, and I know to align myself with good people as soon as possible. Would you consider adding a third to your party?"

I thought for a moment, looking over to Rena and making eye contact. Often we could speak even without words, just by exchanging looks. I found that she often read well past MY own words, and I found that sometimes the only way to get a read on her at all was by watching her eyes and her movements. Often they bretrayed inner emotions, words, thoughts. Things that she would never speak about openly. We both engaged in our silent communiacation, thinking long and hard.

Reaching an unspoken agreement, I turned back to Russ, who was expectantly waiting our response.

"Sure! We'd love to have you. Long as you respect us, help us protect other players we meet, and keep up with us in levels. We don't want to have to babysit a newbie."

He laughed and offered a hand, which I met with a firm shake.

"You've got a deal, Dragon."

And so it began.


	6. Waking Up?

**Hey everyone! Yes, I am beginning to realize how generic it is to leave author's notes in bold print at the top of the story, therefore delaying your reading of said story. I understand. BUT! I just wanted to let you know I am still alive! I am still writing, albeit slowly. Its hard yaknow. It's very difficult to write with a two full time jobs and a part time on top of it, staring down a mountain of bills and car trouble. But I love you guys, all of you who show your support with a review, a favorite, a like. I AM WATCHING! Every time I get an email from fanfiction I see your name, I read the review, I see who favorited me, I see YOU. And I appreciate all the support. I've got chapters for the other stories in the pipelines, letting you know. Also, a new story for zootopia coming out soon! But in the meantime, this one plugs along. I got a little tired of all the fighting, and decided our heroes could use a break. A little fluff, a little background, a little love for the characters. I hope you like it! Read it and let me know what you think! Onward and upward guys, keeping rocking on.**

Chapter 6

Getting back to town was... interesting, to say the least. We searched for several hours just to find the alcove we entered through, and it took even longer to find our way out of the twisting paths that weaved through the mountains. Russ's journal apparently only went one way, since he forgot to record the way back, so naturally he just took this as an opportunity to make a map on the entire area as we were wandering aimlessly.

After the long, grueling trek, we finally made it back to the village again, every one of us beat. Knowing it was just starting to get into the evening, I knew sleep was out of the question, at least for a few hours. I was ready for some R and R. I glanced back at Rena. She had the same look I did, and we both silently agreed on our place to relax. Russ quietly trod beside us, mindlessly following in an exhausted stupor.

We HAD done a lot of hiking.

Now, Rena had given in to me in a lot of things. Treating players better, being more amicable, forgiving my personality's numerous quirks, so on and so forth. But this was one of the few areas where I had made an adjustment. Being a hybrid of a construction worker and a nerd, in neither world did personal appearance really matter to me. I showered every day, and wore deodorant. Best I could do. To a Renamon, however, appearances were everything. I found out very quickly just how attentive to her appearance Rena was and how much work she put into the way she looked.

And I also found out that this is NOT something you want to needle her about.

So, after a few days of poking and prodding at my own appearance, she convinced me to come to the very place we were now headed. Someplace I'd never go under normal circumstances.

She had dragged me to the local spa.

And believe it or not, I had enjoyed it.

At first it was her dragging me there and pestering me until I had taken some kind of service to improve my usually ragged looks, but after awhile I had grown accustomed to resting in the hot springs, the occasional skin treatment, a deep massage, even hair (or in Rena's case, fur) trim and treatments. I started to take it a little more seriously.

Stop laughing.

When you go regularly enough, you start to care about the way you look. You start to relax when you go and you DO feel a bit healthier and walk just a little more pridefully. It was a good feeling. And this is how it had become one of our traditional R and R places.

Me and Rena paid for our various treatments, leaving Russ to gawk and stifle a laugh at the front door, whether to follow or not being his choice. Athena, who had been fast asleep and curled around my shoulders finally stirred after the long journey and chirped, taking flight to a high beam to roost, watching us both.

I disrobed in the changing room, switching to some comfortable swim trunks I had tucked in my inventory for days like this. Rena came out of the girl's room in the same swim wear. Since she walked around topless anyway, it came as no surprise to me. I didn't even know if her race even had...

Too much thinking. Just forget it and relax.

And so, after selecting a spot I sunk into the warm, steaming water and let out long sigh as the heat worked wonders on my sore, aching muscles. Rena broke her usual routine and sat next to me, her eyes rolling back a little as the water worked it's magic. Time seemed to slow down and I completely lost track of everything but the kitsune next to me as we soaked, the heat and atmosphere making me drowsy. In no time at all I had passed out completely.

I startled awake god knows how much later to find that I had not drowned, and neither had Rena. However, she had wrapped her arms around my right arm, whether consciously or unconsciously, and had leaned her head on mine. She was peacefully napping, and I didn't have the heart to wake her. I smiled a little, in spite of the situation, and after a moment of consideration my curiosity beat out my common sense. I reached out with my free hand and gingerly scratched behind one of the Renamon's ears. She didn't wake, so I grinned wider and continued, moving from a soft scratch to petting her head softly.

Much to my surprise, she leaned into it. Then she did something I would never have expected, nor would I ever forget or let her live down.

She purred.

Her body gently vibrated against mine and despite how hilarious this was, I didn't laugh. I found it absolutely adorable.

After a moment I decided to rouse her, giving her a slight nudge. She yawned, tightening her grip on my arm, her eyes blinking slowly awake again. I smiled at her ridiculously adorable expression, a smile which she returned. That is, until she realized that she was clinging to me. She quickly retracted her arms, eyes a bit wide.

That was a lot of emotion for a Renamon.

I shook my head slightly, still grinning.

"We dozed off, Ren. I woke up and you were clinging to me. It appears I am not the only one of us who gets handsy in their sleep..." I stated, raising an eyebrow.

She literally blushed. I kid you not.

"I-I didn't... I..."

She shut her mouth and bowed, arms at her back. "I am sorry." And with that she vanished back to the changing room. I smiled, quickly changing back into my own usual rags and waited patiently outside her door. When she finally emerged (after what looked like a ridiculous amount of brushing, shining, and tidying of her appearance) I simply hugged her, took a step back, and gave her a warm smile.

"It's ok, you know. We are friends after all, and I don't mind."

She paused for a moment, stunned for the second time today. Then she surprised me with a smile. Warm, kind, and completely and utterly unhindered by her usually stoic and unfeeling nature.

"Thank you, Justin."

We both stood there for a moment, staring at each other, trying to sort out our emotions when suddenly the moment was broken by a message from Russ. He told us he had bunked down in the room next to ours and had been waiting several hours for us to come out of the spa. I just showed it to Rena and laughed, tossing my towel over my shoulder.

"Come on, we better get a move on before he changes his mind about staying with us."

She just laughed and we teased each other all the way back to the hotel room about being too close or we made little inappropriate comments at the other. You'd never think it, but the stiff Renamon everyone else sees isn't even close to the way she is. I've never enjoyed just talking to someone (ever...), but somehow we manage to strike up a conversation and I find not only is she fantastic to talk to, but she's funny, witty, smart, even emotional on occasion. It was getting more and more difficult to define our relationship together, if today was any indication.

But I just shrugged it all off for the time being. Too tired to think about that kinda stuff right now. We climbed the stairs, said goodnight to our passed out partner, who apparently dozed off right after sending the message, switched into our sleep shorts and collapsed into the bed.

We both laid there, slowly drifting off after such a long and fateful day. I was almost asleep when I felt a pair of paws wrap around me, and the sudden warmth that comes from someone spooning you. I glanced back over my shoulder and she was fast asleep, resting peacefully with her head nestled close to mine. I curled one of my legs around hers to make myself a little more comfortable and quickly fell asleep.

I woke late the next morning, stirring slowly after our long night's rest. I yawned and stretched out my legs, feeling the renamon's arms still around me. I smiled to myself, not minding a single bit. To be honest, I didn't exactly know what me and Rena's current status was, nor did I care at the moment. All I knew was she was soft and warm and I had slept better than I had ever before.

I gave her a small scratch behind the ears, coaxing the sleeping furball to wake, albeit slowly. She groaned a little, her tail curling around our legs, effectively tangling them. I blushed, feeling like a married couple at this point. Still, I didn't really mind. The kitsune slowly blinked awake, nuzzling my back with her nose.

"Do we HAVE to go somewhere today? I am exhausted..."

I swear someone stole my Rena and replaced her with this imposter. Cuddly, lazy, and a voice that wasn't monotone?

This was a rare occurrence to say the least.

I just laughed and pet her gently, thinking about the day in front of us.

"You know, I think we've had a long couple of days. We can take a day off. No one said we had to risk our lives EVERY day. I'll just message Amelia and let her know. She shouldn't be too mad."

The kitsune yawned and pressed her muzzle to my back again, nuzzling the soft fabric of my shirt. "Thank you... mmmf..."

Part of me was dying to ask why she was being so... different, but for one thing I happened to like the mood she was in and I didn't want to disturb it, and second I didn't want to offend her. It was a lengthy process when you genuinely managed to insult her. It took a lot to do, but once she was it took easily twice as much work to get her to open back up again.

I had only done it once. She had just finished a day of grinding and her fur was matted and sticking up in places, and I had taken this inopportune moment to comment on how remarkably similar she looked to a throw-rug. This is how I figured out Renamon are very sensitive about their appearance.

She bristled but kept quiet, a surefire sign I needed to apologize and shut my mouth, but like an idiot I didn't stop there. I laughed even more, pointing, and made a comment to Amelia about selling her as a mat. She looked at me with an intent to kill, but I STILL ignored it. Then the last straw was when we finally we got back to the hotel and I had told her to take first shower because she reeked. Rena snapped and grabbed me by the neck, slammed me into the tub, and turned the water on as hot as it would go. When I finished sputtering and flailing, I found her in the center of the room, meditating. Nothing I said or did moved her from that spot or elicited so much as a noise from her. When she finally rose from her meditative state, she simply walked out and spent the night in another room.

It took me hours the next day to convince her my apology was genuine. Even longer for her to speak to me. I had gotten on my knees and pleaded forgiveness, bought a dozen special shampoos and conditioners, and promised to care better for my own appearance. She finally caved, but it was like resetting a clock. She was uptight and short for a week, almost as bad as when we had met.

So I had never pushed her again. I knew what bothered her, and avoided such topics like black plague.

So moral of the story... don't piss off a Renamon. Don't piss off your partner. Don't piss off a girl. And for god's sakes, don't do it all at once.

I was trying to figure a way to delicately ask the now friendly, sweet, cuddly, and frankly cute little fox that had her arms wrapped around me what exactly had happened to her not so friendly other side, but I just decided to let this one go and enjoy it. It wasn't worth the risk.

So I turned over and returned the snuggle, wrapping my deceptively strong arms around her, pulling her as close as I could get, letting out a sigh of content. She entwined her other leg with mine, a soft and distinct purr vibrating against my chest. It was a pleasant, calm, soothing morning; perfect for recovery given the day before. That is, until...

"Oh, god. Ahem. G-good morning."

We both bolted awake, eyes wide to see Russ standing in the door, my dragonet hanging from his arm. She must have been picked up by staff and handed to Russ. She flew to my side, curling up on my nightstand, but that was the least of my concerns right now. My jaw went slack, and I had nothing to say that would explain the compromising position we were in.

Rena was jaw dropped as well, completely mortified to be caught like this. Hell... If you didn't know any better...

"We're not sleeping together! I mean... we are, but not _sleeping _together. I... you..."

She shut her eyes, her lips curled into a snarl, and in the most authoritative, poison-laced, threatening tone I have ever heard come from her, she commanded him.

"Get out now and never speak of this, or I WILL tear through your throat and watch you bleed out, understand?"

He literally jumped, backing out rapidly. "Y-yes... I understand... I'll see you guys later... downstairs..."

In short order he was out of sight, and a moment after that I heard a distant yelp and subsequent thumps as he rolled down the flight of stairs to the lobby. Poor guy...

I turned my attention back to Rena, who had seemingly paled and was panting a little heavily. My more nurturing side came out, and I wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, stroking softly and hushing her in a gentle tone.

"Rena, Rena, It'll be OK, I promise. It'll be OK. Just calm down sweetie, he's not gonna breathe a word of this to anyone. It'll be ok."

She leaned into my touch a little, visibly relaxing. We both let out exasperated sighs, swinging our legs to our respective sides of the bed, both of us making mental notes to lock the door next time. We quickly changed and adjusted hair, fur, clothes and weapons, getting everything perfect so we looked our best once again. Rena was still tense, so I gave my partner's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and flashed a bright, warming smile.

"What happened this morning stays between you and me, OK?"

She smiled back and nodded, then started to let her usual stoic facade turn her features to stone. I knew her better though. Just a mask she wore to protect the sensitive heart underneath.

"So what did you have in mind for today?" I asked her, cocking my head.

She shrugged, staring down the door, as if it were some kind of challenge. "I hadn't thought about it. I was perfectly content where we were. I don't want any grinding, no questing, and certainly no boss fights. Some peaceful exploration, shopping, sword classes, anything. I leave it to you, Justin."

I tapped my jawline thoughtfully, contemplating my options. We DID have a lot of col saved up from our manic questing. And we had to lug Russ around to go and complete his special quest he nearly killed us for. Might as well hang around town.

"Yeah, let's take Russ to finish his quest and do some shopping. I've got a boatload of col and I could use a few things."

She nodded, checking her own col. "I've got... hmm..."

I swiveled around to help her check her menus. She still occasionally forgot where certain stats were, how to locate an item in her inventory, and other things like that. I pointed to the top left, doing a double take on the digits.

"You have three hundred thousand col?! What in hell have you been doing to earn that much? That's TWICE what I have, and we do EVERYTHING together!"

"I don't purchase any unnecessary items," She replied flatly, giving another shrug, "I see no need for anything past picking up potions, our trips to the spa, my half of dinner, and the occasional fur soap."

She had me there. I did impulse buy on our trips. I had a bad habit of grabbing snacks, drinks, extra tips from brokers, so on and so forth. I just never imagined she'd be this frugal. I mean... we could theoretically purchase a place. Not that we'd want to. These inns were more than adequate.

For now.

I just let out a hearty laugh, opening the door and gestured to my partner. "After you, milady!" Athena swooped onto my shoulder, curling to a comfortable place around my shoulders again while I just stood there with a goofy smile.

She let her guise drop for just one more moment, flashing a smile and a roll of her eyes before we left. We walked downstairs to find very perturbed Russ down in the lobby. He had fading, yet still glittering marks all over him from where he tumbled down the stairway. I stifled a laugh by faking a cough, sticking out my hand.

"Morning, ahem, Russ. How are you?"

He shook it, wincing, casting a slightly fearful glance at Rena, who simply met it with her emotionless and piercing gaze.

"F-fine. Just fine. I hit my head a little on the way down the stairs. You know safe zones protect you from harm, not pain."

I gave him an empathetic look, having jumped from one of the houses (a small one, of course) to see if you could take damage in safe zones. You can't... so you could jump off a skyscraper for all you cared, you wouldn't die. You wouldn't even lose HP. But... it hurts just as bad as it would if had done it for real. I had rolled around for an hour, clutching my sides and howling in pain, attracting the attention of the whole town.

Humiliating to say the least.

"Yeah, I get that. So. We figured, since you're stuck with us now, we'd go with you to get your quest filled out and maybe that you'd come with us on a bit of shopping. Maybe you know a couple vendors we don't. In any case, I'm itching to know exactly what you had us risk our life for."

He seemed to tense up, probably still uptight on the details of the quest. His mouth opened and closed, looking like he was about to say something, and his eyes flicked back and forth between us, judging.

Whatever passed through his mind was a mystery to me. However, with an exaggerated sigh he simply nodded, walking out the front door without so much as a backward glance. I glanced at Rena and shrugged, quickly turning on heel and sped out the door to follow the athletic twenty something year old.

He must have rounded a dozen corners and ducked around a hundred people. He bobbed and weaved his way through the village like an alley cat would stroll his own streets. It almost seemed like he was trying to ditch us. Which he very well may have been trying to do. After about ten minutes of this, he started to slow down, approaching a small stand painted green with yellow trim, faded and looking like it was about to fall apart.

He stopped at the counter, glancing back at the two of us, and spoke to the NPC running the shop. He was a short, fat, gristly looking man with his wrinkled face and enormous gut. He had a slight Irish accent, and he sported a large, black beard. As I approached, I caught the tail end of the conversation. "...pulled it off. I'm shocked. But I'm nothing if not a man of my word. Here it is. Not gonna find another thing like this in all of Aincrad, I promise you. It'll do ya well laddie, you have my personal guarantee."

He passed over an item, and Russ's face lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw it. He quickly navigated the menu with shaking hands and read over the description. I have never seen anyone so excited in all my life. He thanked the NPC, bolting off at top speed. I took off after him with Rena in tow, barely keeping up. We ran for what seemed like an eternity until he just stopped, right in the outskirts of the village, just inside the safe zone. Not a soul in sight, save for the sheep wandering around not too far away.

He took a deep breath to calm himself and dropped down cross-legged on the grass. Me and Rena gave him a respectable distance, taking a seat to watch things unfold. I was out of breath, a testament to how out of shape I was, and was huffing pretty heavily. But Russ just ignored us, taking the item out of his inventory. It was a small, metal rectangle, about two feet in length and a foot wide. He set it out in front of him, and it rapidly morphed into a long, metal table with a various assortment of tools, hardware, and other items. He slowly traced his fingers over the metal with deep appreciation while I just sat there slack jawed and speechless.

"You had our lives risked for a TABLE?"

Russ's head snapped up, a menacing rage filling his eyes. "This is NOT some crummy table. It's a genuine, all purpose, crafting, forging, and building workbench. It is capable of creating anything and I mean ANYTHING in this game, including legendary items if given the right recipe. It of itself is legendary rarity, and they are all but impossible to find. As to how I managed to get ahold of the quest for this is beyond me. All I know is this is the most useful, powerful tool in all of Aincrad. THIS is what I had us risk our lives for."

That gave me a pause.

"So you're saying this thing can craft anything? Weapons, shields, armor, even items?"

"Yes, within reason. Certain item recipes have extremely rare components. These components usually can't be crafted, they have to be excavated from certain mobs. But I can craft any and all armor, weapons, and shields. I can craft MOST items, even some items needed for higher crafting recipes. The only catch is you need to increase your crafting skill to create higher tier items, but I can improve on that by simply using it."

Well... Ok. That WAS an amazing item. I glanced it over, nodding my approval.

"Well, then. I say that was time well spent. So. Now that we have your table, is it possible to use it to upgrade existing weapons, armor, and so on?"

He nodded, running has hand over the cool metal of the workbench. "With the right items, I can do anything,."

I nodded again, turning on heel while Russ gingerly compressed the table to it's metal square, packing it gingerly away in his inventory. I checked my money, rolling over a few purchases I needed to make. Athena chirped from my shoulder, rubbing her head on my cheek. Absentmindedly, I pulled out a granola bar and gave her a bite off the end of it, taking a large bite myself. That reminded me...

"Are there any pet shops here in this village?" I asked around my mouthful.

Russ nodded, taking point. "Yeah, I didn't pay any mind to them though. I wasn't even aware familiars could be gotten at level one. Usually they don't get tameable familiars til at least a few more floors up, so I just passed it by. Though I always keep a note of where everything is."

Something about what he said didn't quite make sense, but I was too absorbed in my own thoughts to notice. The guidebook hardly went into familiars, so I was hoping there was some sort of book or something to give me at least a better hint of how exactly to raise and train a familiar.

Russ stopped outside a big, wood beam cabin-style shop, gesturing to the door. "Here you go, everything a familiar owner could want or need at this floor. I've got to go pick up some basic crafting items, so I'll leave you guys to it. I'll meet you at home in two hours."

And with that he disappeared into the crowd of people, off to who knows where. Rena faithfully trod through the doors after me, content to stay with me while I shopped. I rested my elbows on the counter with a sigh, giving my best smile to the NPC behind the counter.

"Hello sir! Welcome to Familiar Central. How can I help you today?" The woman asked politely.

"Hey! This here is Athena, and I want to take good care of her so I'm looking for more information on familiars. Foods they need, caretaking tips, stuff like that would be helpful. Also, I would like to know whether she would be capable of helping me take down some monsters. Any items or tips you have to help me get her battle ready would be much appreciated."

She seemed to think for a moment, tapping her chin. "I believe a few things are in order. First, you're going to need food. She can eat almost anything, dragonets are notorious for stealing food from you, even out of your inventory. However! We carry a dragon chow that helps boost their growth rate and accelerates their development. As for combat, I wouldn't go against anything too serious with her out and about, she is liable to take a serious hit. However, if you coordinate your attacks with hers in a way that keeps the monster from being able to attacking her, she's capable of a decent amount of damage, more when she evolves to her juvenile form."

"So she can evolve?"

"Oh yes. A number of times, depending on the specific species. I haven't seen one quite like her in a while. She must be from one of the secluded, guarded nests. Its impossible for me to tell when she'll hit juvenile or adult stage, or even if she can evolve past that. But if you keep her out and about, attacking at least once or twice every day, on a steady but not overly generous diet of the chow, she should thrive and you'll see her evolve in no time. As an added tip, she can revert to the dragonet status once she evolves. Just a simple command. So no matter if she gets to the size of a house, she can always go back to that adorable little side companion you currently have."

"Thank you, very much. You've been very helpful. I'll take 3 bags of dragonet and juvenile chow each, a basic set of armor for both of her forms, and an adjustable collar."

I browsed the isles, picking up the odd end or two, I paid for it all and we neatly shut the door behind us. With a loud yawn I gestured to Rena.

"Why don't you pick the next shop?"

She nodded, closing her eyes. Imagining she was trying to think of a place or an item or whatever I set my eyes to the crowds that bustled around the village. The number of players had been steadily growing over the past few weeks, and I was getting majorly uncomfortable with it. New faces day by day, scaring the life out of me with the sheer amount of people pouring in from the village of beginning. I was thinking it was about time to pick up shop and take the road to the next couple villages, stopping when we found one that suited us. I'd ask Amelia about it when we visited later.

Rena finally came out of her trance and waved to me to follow, which I did unquestioningly. When the one of us moves the other follows. Reasons come later. She ducked through the crowd, making her way to the center of the village, stopping inside one of the smaller shops on the main street. A big, burly Scotsman greeted us, wearing a set of leather leggings and a sleeveless shirt with shoulder pads. He grinned when he saw her and slammed his fist down on the counter.

"RENA! It's good ta see ya foxy, its been awhile. I don't suppose you managed to take care of that little errand, did ye?"

She legitimately smiled at him, smacking a mystery satchel down on the counter next to him.

To further confuse me, she spoke with an Irish accent.

"Aye, you bet your ass I did! You old codger you, needing a young, strong lady to do yer dirty work for ya. Should be ashamed of yerself. You have what ye promised?"

I had no idea what was going on.

He laughed heartily, practically shaking the small shack with the thunderous sound.

"Aye, that I do missy. Here ya go!" He lumbered over to the rack and carefully removed a long sword, resting it gently in her outstretched paws like it was something precious. It shined like it was brand new. It was sharp as a razor yet well weighted and somehow perfectly suited to her physique. It even had a fox engraving on the hilt with intricate patterns traveling down the sides of the blade. He continued, "The best sword a kitsune can get these parts. Specifically designed for your race, and more specifically, your very hands. I hand crafted it precisely to your body type, yer weight, the way ya carry yerself, and to fit comfortably in those newfangled paws of yours. That sword also has powers, powers beyond your wildest imagination. I crafted this blade special, just for you, miss. But I'm going to leave all the rest of that for you two to figure out. For now, I'll be taking that bag full of goods."

She nodded and accepted the sword from the burly blacksmith, gingerly tucking it in her sheath in replacement of her old one. It was miles better than the one she had, and I couldn't help but be intrigued about the supposed powers the blade held.

Rena gave a two finger salute and sauntered out the door, tail swaying behind her with an attitude. I gawked at her and the large smith let loose another thundering laugh, clapping my shoulder. I winced involuntarily, rubbing the spot gently when he wasn't looking.

"Ah, a true gem that one is. Lucky man you are, to be partnered with such a fine specimen. Treat her well for me, will ya? I'll see you again in due time I'm sure. Won't be long before you scallywags beat that oppressive bastard that keeps the next floor locked off. Then I'm packing up shop and meetin' ya there!"

He tossed me a large, flat steel shield, much better than anything I'd seen other players with. Oddly enough with a dragon engraving on it. I made a mental note to run by this smith's shop again on the next floor. He was really good at his craft. He turned his back, grabbed a large hammer hanging on the wall and ambled his way to the back of his shop.

"Take it, free of charge. Use it to protect her for me, will ya?"

"Will do sir. What's your name again?"

"I'm known by many names, son, I'm old! But you may call me Reinhardt."

He disappeared to the back, and no sooner had I cleared the door did I hear the distant sound of banging on an anvil as the merry Scotsman hammered away at his next project. I just laughed and tracked down Rena, who was back to her normal self. I poked her side, (not something Renamon are fond of. Don't try it, it doesn't go well) giving her a quizzing look.

"What was that all about?"

She shrugged. "I like him. I found his shop by accident, looking for potions. He gave good directions to a place that had them and asked me if I would do something for him. I figured this was one of those quest things, and told him yes, and he asked me to get him a bag full of..."

She stopped, looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

"... cream puffs. He lives for the things."

"Really? I didn't know you could get them around here. How did you?"

She seemed reluctant to continue, but out of curiosity I nudged her a little, giving an encouraging smile.

She twiddled her fingers, suddenly blushing so hard it was evident through her fur.

"They're not sold at any of the bakers... or available through the daily quests."

The daily quests were a feature of the game available to all players. They were quests players could do with set parameters that were fairly easy. So if resources were to become thin or a player fell on hard times, he or she could always do the daily quests. Very low risk, very basic rewards, but there was good stuff to be found. Food, weapons, basic armor. Stuff me and Rena could scrap or sell.

She went on. "He gave me the recipe... and it required a certain ingredient from one of the monsters hanging around the south gate... and after I got it then they needed to be made... which means you need to cook them... which requires a cooking skill... so I..."

The concept was so far away I didn't get it at first.

"So you what? Did you give away the recipe to a baker? Or did you find a player to cook them for you?"

"N-no... I... uh..."

She stuttered, blushing deeper and deeper. The thought had occurred to me at this point, but it was too radical still to accept.

"Did you call the hotel and have them bake them? What? How on earth did you..."

She flipped a stat screen over to me, not making eye contact. It was her skill point list. On it were a variety of things she had a moderate skill at. Different sword skills, tracking, listening, so forth. My eyes roved down the list until I saw the one that struck me.

"You... took a cooking lesson? You... you made them? You ACTUALLY raised your cooking skill? YOU?"

She just stayed mute, staring holes into the ground.

I didn't even reply. I disappeared, running off into the mess of shops, frantically looking for something. After a minute I returned, grinning ear to ear. Rena looked like a stressed out cat, eyes darting up when she saw me, then away again.

I just extended to her the item I had purchased, still grinning like a fool.

"Take this."

She looked up and her eyes widened in surprise. I had burned a fair amount of money on it, but this was a long term investment. I knew it would pay off.

"You got me a full set of cookware?"

"The best available."

Embarrassment gone, she clapped her hands excitedly, dropping the emotionless facade.

"Oh my god, yes! I had to work for HOURS to bake those things. With this stuff I could prepare them in no time! All I have to do is get my skill a little higher and..."

Good. She liked it.

She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug, drawing a light blush to my cheeks. Several people stopped and stared, never before seeing a Renamon showing anything less than hostility before. Luckily she was so excited she didn't notice.

"Thank you! I was worried you were going to make fun of me for cooking..."

My eyebrows went up in surprise. "Rena, I will make fun of a lot of stuff you do, mostly just so you'll stop being so rigid around me. But something I take very seriously is my food. And let's face it, the food right now is terrible. Its bland, tasteless, and boring. We've been eating the same things for over a month. if you're taking up cooking, then I'm on board with you one hundred percent!"

She flashed me one of those rare, genuine smiles that I loved to see. I knew I just made her day. We picked Russ up after a bit, hitting a few more shops and places, and despite all the excitement we were all still pretty exhausted from the day before so we grabbed some takeout from a nearby restaurant and retired to our rooms. Me and Rena just laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling, eating the expensive and mildly flavored junk food we had ordered.

"Hey Rena?" I asked, setting my plate aside.

"Yes Justin?" She took her finished plate and discarded it in the bin with a quick toss, letting out a satisfied sigh.

"Why were you cuddling me this morning? Not to say I was mad or didn't like it. It kind of... maybe... felt... nice." I gulped a little at the admission, but pressed on. "But... why?"

She shifted a little on the bed, suddenly uncomfortable. I was extremely nervous, preparing myself for the worst. But she surprised me.

"Because you remind me of home."

She flipped, turning her backside to me. I gently tugged on her shoulder, trying to get a little more out of her. I needed to know.

"About home? What do you mean?"

"What I mean... I... You remind me..." She sighed, pulling the blanket tighter around her. "Of my husband."

That stopped me in my tracks. Part of me was glad I knew this now, the other part was beating that part up, wishing I had just kept my mouth shut.

"Y-y-you're m-marr-rried?" I stuttered, trying to come to grips with this new information.

She shook her head, her next words tinged with sorrow.

"I was... He's... gone, now."

I didn't know what to say, but... something told me how to feel. I gently wrapped an arm around her midsection, drawing her close to me, pressing her back to my chest and nestling my head comfortably next to hers. I whispered softly in her ear, as if speaking too loud would shatter her.

"I'm sorry, Rena. I didn't mean to bring up those memories. I'm here for you, no matter what happens. I'm sorry I remind you of him, but I'm glad you feel that comfortable around me. If you want, we can sleep like that every night, i-if it'd help."

She gave a small smile, resting her arm on mine.

"I'd like that."

We stayed like that until we both drifted off, snoring peacefully with her still in my arms.

Way off in the distance, a man quietly watched the couple with interest. His instruments had picked up every word, and he had seen evey little thing between them. He pulled out a holographic pad, scrawling something down as he sat in the field in the middle of night.

"Yes... these two are coming along nicely. They might be the ones I need."

His 'eyes' roved over the rest of the village, the HUD bringing up several other possible candidates, each one showing promise. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, taking it all in.

"Time will tell, I suppose."

While we drifted off and the peaceful day drew to an end, little did we know that there was trouble brewing. And only time would tell if we would be ready for it.


End file.
